The Subtle Approach
by blackraven72
Summary: Natalie Brenner, a teenage spy for ERA, gets to take a gap year to make new friends and see the world at the insistence of her boss, Gran Doma. With a town to avenge and enemies from her past hunting her down, Nat has a lot on her plate. She'll need the Fairy Tail guild's help, and they'll need her much more than they think they will. Please review, and if you have an OC, send em!
1. Prologue: Today is the First Day

**Hey guys! This is my first story for the Fairy Tail fandom, so constructive criticism is always appreciated. I've been working on this character for a while, and I want to make her as complex and interesting as possible. Also, if you have any Fairy Tail OCs, I'd love to meet them and try and work them into the story. It should be pretty obvious where Nat's from after reading this chapter, and what one of the major arcs of this story is going to be; while I will follow the canon, I want Nat to have her own unique adventures too. That's where your OCs come in! All I need to know is their name, their guild, their appearance, their magic, and...You know what? I'll just put a form on my profile. If you want to submit a character, please fill it out completely. Also, I'll be busy soon, so this might not be updated on a regular schedule, but reviews and follows do fuel me, so please do that if you like the story! Okay, I've been talking too long. Enjoy the show, and enjoy Nat!**

Prologue: Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life

 _A dragon, red scales glinting in the sunlight, blocks my view of the sky. My gaze is drawn to this beautiful creature._

" _You're both fools!"_

" _Well, that's it, Amartha's two geniuses have officially gone nuts!"_

" _Doesn't that happen a lot with intelligent people?"_

" _THAT'S IT! IF THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN DRAGONS, WE'LL SHOW THEM A DRAGON!"_

" _What do you mean,_ no _? Don't you realize how powerful we would be if we pulled this off? The world would be our oyster, Nat! Yes, yes, we'd be the strongest wizards ever, and we'd get our revenge on this dump and everyone in it!"_

" _Natalie, you know I hate it when you have to do my chores for me…but could you please…get some water from the well?"_

" _Where'd everyone go?" My old friend's mocking voice echoes off the canyon. I can only sit still and shiver as I use my magic to hide._

" _Since you all love playing hide and seek so much, you can play it for the rest of your lives!"_

I gasped as I woke up from the nightmare, and instinctively grabbed for the knife under my pillow. It was the third time that whole week that I'd dreamed about my past in Amartha, or as many people know it, the City Without Sound. I checked my surroundings, knife in hand, sitting upright, just to be sure that there were no signs that anyone had broken into my hotel room. Just as I thought. Nothing.

 _This is ridiculous, Nat,_ I thought to myself. _Get back to sleep and get ahold of yourself; ERA is expecting your report in the morning_.

With that, I dozed off into as peaceful of a slumber as I could muster, and when dawn rose, I was ready to go.

I brushed my currently shoulder-length platinum blonde-dyed hair, did a triple check of my room to make sure that _nothing_ was left behind, put on a tan coat that concealed all of the weapons that I had on my person, and once I was satisfied, I checked out of the Holiday Suites and headed for the train station. The hotel had served its purpose; now, it was time to leave.

After quietly buying my train ticket to Era Station (creatively named, I know), along with a fresh pastry and some fruit for breakfast, I decided to recap my mission on the train, and began to prepare a statement for the Magic Council.

The target's name was Morukozo Nakamuri, a very wealthy man who conducted countless illegal arms deals. He didn't possess any magical power, but he was selling some of his best magical weapons to dark guilds, if they paid him a "reasonable" price of course, which usually accounted to joule amounts in the six figures.

I was able to infiltrate his base by becoming the girlfriend of one of Nakamuri's most trusted sidekicks: Renji Matsuoko, his accountant. After enduring dinner with Renji every night for two weeks (who, by the way, was completely unaware that he was dating a 17 year-old), I snuck into Nakamuri's office, and photographed the records of customers' recent purchases. One of the most expensive things that he had sold recently was a flute called Lullaby. I wasn't sure what it was exactly, but one look at the skeleton flute told me all that I would ever need to know. However, I wanted to know more. I always do. That tendency comes with the job, I guess.

Once the records were photographed, there was nothing else that I needed to do except replace Nakamuri's daily vitamin pill with a pill that would put him to sleep for a few hours until the Magic Council stormed the building and arrested him. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Speaking of squeezy, a man attempted to casually cop a feel under the guise of opening a window with a lock directly behind my head "to let in some fresh air, you know?" as I was starting to mentally draft my statement. I was able to silently kick him in the ankle, and the sharp jab along with a menacing glare was enough to make him scurry away from me like the sewer rat he was. I closed the window; normally, I didn't mind a breeze, but the wind could blow confidential information around the train car, and I really didn't need that.

Why didn't I have intelligence in a briefcase or a backpack, you may ask? Well, those are articles that are easily capable of being stolen, and I'd rather not leave valuable intel in them. I prefer to keep that sort of information closer to my chest, literally. On this particular return trip, I had photographs of Nakamuri's office sealed in plastic bags and stuffed inside my bra. Not the most secure way to carry information; if I got captured, the photos could be easily discovered. However, on this train trip, the bra was going to have to suffice. My tactical suit and rented clothes were taking up most of the room in my suitcase.

I had planned to change trains at Oshibana Station, but as I was preparing to stand up and leave the train, I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker that Oshibana Station was closed for emergency repairs. While no explanation was given for why the station, which had not needed repairs when I was planning out my travel route yesterday morning, was closed, I had a thought that it could have been because one of Nakamuri's weapons had been put to use by a dark guild. Silently praying that that wasn't the case, I looked at the train map at Oshibana Station and quickly planned an alternate route. While the station building and tracks were closed for repairs, they were still running buses to take people to various places across Fiore.

I ended up only being fifteen minutes late to my debrief, and I made sure to profoundly apologize to the Magic Council for the delay; usually, I made it to debriefs fifteen minutes early. I quickly debriefed them on the Nakamuri situation, and how exactly I had resolved it, and then I thought that they would let me go. Usually, that was how these debriefs worked. However, on this particular day, that was not what happened.

"Natalie," Gran Doma called as the Council members and I were starting to leave. I turned back around to face him as his colleagues disappeared. Talking to him wasn't unnatural after a job; he was the one who found me crying by the well just outside of town when the Council came to my village to investigate its residents' curse. He made sure that I've had a place to call home until my village's curse is removed, and he helped me do research to try and un-break it. In short, he's been just as much a father to me as my biological one.

"Yes, Mr. Doma?" I asked. Despite our familiarity, I still treat him somewhat formally.

"I wish we could talk about this in person, but I'm afraid that's not possible right now due to extenuating circumstances." I knew then that whatever he was going to say next would be something out of the blue, and potentially life-changing. "However, I must ask you: have you ever considered choosing a different career path?"

"What do you mean, Mr. Doma?" I asked, confused. "Am I not performing up to your standards? I'll try to do better…"

"No, Natalie, your performance on this job was stellar as always," he said, as a kind expression started to creep onto his face. "What I was trying to say indirectly was…Have you ever considered joining a guild?"

"Are you indirectly trying to fire me?" I was still confused.

"No, Natalie, I would never do that. I just think that you'll be bored constantly doing jobs for us old folks here on the Council. You're still a girl in my eyes, and you've been using your particular talents for espionage to help us for years. I know the Council will disagree with me, but I think it's time you live a little. Be young. Find other people your age to talk to and go on jobs with. I don't want you to be alone forever."

"I know that you're worried about me, but I'm fine right where I am. This pays well, and…"

"Natalie," Firmness started to creep into his tone again, "I know that your skill set is very unique, and many guilds would love to have you on their team. I also know that you have your whole life ahead of you, and you shouldn't waste it by working all the time. I am not firing you. However, I do think it's important that you have more people to come back to when you return from a job besides just me."

"You and I both know that everyone I'm coming back to besides you is cursed. Also, isn't it better for spies to have few to no personal connections?" I asked skeptically.

"For spies, yes, but for wizards, which you also are, no. You have every right to want to save your family and friends in Amartha, but perhaps the solution to saving them lies in joining the outside world. However, if you so adamantly refuse this idea, I will still support you. We need every talented spy we can get here."

I toyed with the idea in my head. If I joined a guild, I would have the ability to make friends with people outside of ERA. I could hide less. I would be more visible…but for me, more visible means more vulnerable. However, making friends in new places could be advantageous, and I might get to see new parts of the world that I might not see otherwise. The fantasy of me traveling Fiore with a group of true friends crossed my mind, and my heart panged with longing. Somehow, I had a feeling that Doma knew it would do that.

"All right," I caved. "I'll try your plan for a year. If it doesn't work out, will I be guaranteed a place back at ERA?"

"Of course," Doma smiled kindly, "In fact, if we still need you during your gap year, we'll give you missions. However, I'll try and pass them on to up-and-coming spies. I'm so happy you're doing this, Natalie."

"You know," I replied with a cunning smile on my face, "it almost feels like I was gently nudged into doing it."

He laughed, a booming laugh that would have echoed if he wasn't a projection. "Natalie, I want you to be able to live. You deserve it, after being raised under my wing for so long. Find your own identity out there, instead of going under a false cover. You're a good girl at heart, I know that. You'll find friends. However, if you end up befriending the Fairy Tail guild, I will hold you responsible for keeping them in line."

I tried not to laugh; the possibility of me befriending people so aggressive and destructive as the Fairy Tail guild was one in a million, if anything.

"If that happens, sir, I'll do my best. I'll leave as soon as possible; I want to pack up my room and see Brian before I leave."

"I had a feeling you would say that. I'll take the liberty of letting you know that as soon as you said yes, which I had a feeling you would, I called the staff and asked them to clean and pack up your room. You'll find all of your things neatly packed into a suitcase when you arrive. This way, you'll have more time to test out whatever Brian has waiting for you. I know you love that."

"Thank you," I smiled, "I'll be sure to use this gap year wisely, Mr. Doma."

"Don't think of it as a gap year," he replied. "Think of it as the start of a potential new life for you."

I couldn't help but grin as I left the room. This year would be a whirlwind, I knew that, but Monday, Mars 29, felt like the day that Natalie Brenner finally came back from the dead.

Chapter 2


	2. Chapter 1: Liftoff

**Hey guys! Sorry about the wait on this chapter; I've been busy with life. And yes, the suit in this chapter is heavily inspired by Black Widow's Age of Ultron suit before** **anyone** **asks, so definitely check that out online! Glad I got that out of the way. Now, on with the show!**

Chapter 2

The first place I went after I retrieved my bags from my ERA bunk was Brian's workshop. Brian, or Brian the Brain as he was known around ERA, was my weapons dealer, and had been for years. He knew how to make weapons like no one's business, and I refused to trust anyone else with handling my gadgets.

"Hey Nat!" he called as I entered his workspace. A forge was bellowing in the back of his room, and weapons of all sorts were hanging from almost every shelf.

"Hi Brain," I called back.

"I heard you were leaving us to go explore the great, wide world," he said, spreading his arms for emphasis.

"I am," I confirmed, "but I had to stop by and see you before I left. Do you have anything new for me?"

"As a matter of fact," he smiled slyly, "I do. I've been working on an upgrade to your tactical suit. It should serve you well out there."

I could have jumped for joy. I loved my old navy tactical suit that ERA had given me when I started my career, but it was starting to feel a little stretched out; I had been wearing it for about a year now, and I knew that Brian could come up with something better.

"Here you go," he said, pulling a black cat suit out of a drawer. "Go and try it on, and I'll explain how it works."

"Where's your changing room?" I asked.

"Don't have one," he replied frankly. "I figured if you needed privacy, you could just go invisible or something."

"I can do that," I replied, "but seriously, you should knock out a wall and build a changing room that connects to the forge. Not just for me, but for anyone who's trying on armor or tactical suits or whatnot."

"I'll get around to that when the Rune Knights stop commissioning me to make them new spears," he barked out with a laugh. "Now, what are you waiting for? I can't wait to show you the upgrades I've made!"

I pounded my right fist into my left palm and turned invisible right before Brian's eyes.

I always loved using my magic; it was the one part of my village that remained with me after Daphne destroyed and cursed the rest of it. It was also the best stealth magic in the world, which made me even prouder of my town; we created it, and the secret to how we could even make our shadows invisible if we desired has been hidden, no pun intended, from the rest of the world for centuries. I plan to keep it that way. While I was invisible, I stripped out of my T-shirt and jeans, also known as my civvies, and stepped into Brian's new suit.

The first thing that struck me about the suit was how comfortable it was. In my older suit that the Magic Council gave me when I first joined, it always felt like I was running in lycra tights that could snap at any instant, which was embarrassing, even for someone who can turn invisible on a dime. In this suit, the inside was comfortably lined with something that felt like velvet, with tougher armor on the chest area and from the knees down. My wrists and lower forearms felt snug in the wrist guards as well. When I put my hands on my hips to feel the outside, the material felt like rubber. I stretched out to test the flexibility of the new suit, and it was instantly clear to me that my fighting style would not have to change for the suit. Thank the gods (and, of course, Brian).

"How does it feel?" Brian asked when I became visible and showed him the suit.

"Amazing," I replied honestly. "You've outdone yourself once again."

He smiled smugly. "I had a feeling you'd feel that way. Now, let me show you the gadgets on this little cat."

"What?" I asked.

"Sorry, this suit's project name was Catnap."

I had to chuckle at Brian's ridiculously obvious nicknames. Thank the gods he wasn't responsible for giving important missions codenames; our enemies would know exactly what we were up to in an instant.

"All right," I said, trying to contain my excitement, "show me how this suit works."

"Well," he said, dragging over a mirror so that I could see my reflection, "I can't do two things at once, but…"

"Okay," I rolled my eyes as he put the mirror down and stood behind me, " _now_ can you show me the gear?"

"Of course, Your Royal Highness," he replied sarcastically. "Okay, so you can hide knives in these sheaths on your forearms," he said, pointing to them as he described them, "and here," he said, pointing to the sides of my thighs. "Obviously, this holster on the side of your left hip, and this one near your right thigh within easy arm's reach, are for your pistols. No other guns will fit into these; I custom-made them for you. Okay, now here's where things get really interesting," he grinned, pointing to my new wrist guards. "Watch what happens when you activate them with your magic."

I did so, and veins of electricity ran their way through my suit, lighting up outlines of my silhouette in a brilliant blue. I was impressed; he probably built core components of my suit with the rubber-like material I had just felt on the outside so that I wouldn't feel any shock from it. My wrist guards had lit up blue as well.

"There are little projectiles inside the wrist guards that you can fire with your magic. As you can probably guess, this all comes at minimal magic cost to you, so you should be able to fire them while you're invisible. As you've probably also been able to guess…"

"These pellets will be coated in electricity," I cut him off.

"Enough to wipe out a horse for sixteen hours," Brian grinned.

"Don't tell me you tested on animals!" I gasped in horror.

"Just Lahar's horse. That guy's an ass." Brian laughed. "Don't worry; the horse is fine now. These pellets are meant to stun, not kill."

"I still disapprove of your testing this on an animal," I frowned.

"Where would you rather I have tested it?" Brian asked.

"On Lahar himself?" I suggested, and Brian burst into tears of laughter.

"Point taken, point taken," he laughed. "UnfortuNATely, Nat, that's all I have to show you."

"This'll be plenty, Brian," I grinned at him. "Thank you once again for creating a new suit for me. You've done a wonderful job; there's no doubt about it."

"Anything for my favorite spy," he laughed as I turned invisible and changed again. I was sad to take off the suit, but I knew that it didn't help me do what I did best: blend in. If I was going to use this suit, it would have to be in a situation where I knew I was going to have to fight, and potentially blow my cover in the process. Regardless, I loved it.

"Well, I should probably grab my bags now," I laughed as I left the room. "Once again, Brian, it was great seeing you."

"You too, Nat," he smiled as I left. "Good luck on your journey, by the way!"

"Thanks!" I shouted behind me as I turned away and left my best friend in ERA to hammer away on more spears for the Rune Knights.

About a half an hour later, I had returned to my now-stripped-bare room and packed up my bag filled with necessities that the Magic Council cleaning staff had been kind enough to provide me with. I took my shampoos out of the bag and headed into my soon-to-be-former bathroom to take a quick shower before I left. I usually showered every other day, and the day I left ERA just so happened to be that day. Once I had _finally_ washed that ditzy platinum color out of my hair and let it air-dry as its natural medium brown, I felt reborn.

I re-packed my shampoos and, somewhat agonizingly, locked my door at ERA for the last time. You might be wondering: "But Nat, why were you only kinda sad?" and I would tell you that after ERA cleaning staff has gone through everything in your room that was personal and packed it up, it really doesn't feel like your room anymore. I still remember the memories that I had there, though. I do have a heart.

I rolled a bag and carried two others to a carriage and boar that was waiting for me outside ERA's gates. After the guards helped me load the bags inside, I climbed into the carriage.

"Do you know what you'll be doing now, Natalie?" one of the guards, Robert, asked as I sat inside.

"I think that I'll tour some guilds first, and see which ones I'd be interested in joining," I replied. I already had a few that I knew I wanted to visit: the most powerful guilds in Fiore that everyone knew, including Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and I was even considering Fairy Tail, despite what Gran Doma had said. I knew that my skill set was desirable among many guilds, so I felt like I didn't have much to worry about in the 'will they want me?' department. What I needed to find was a guild that would suit my interests and personality, and I figured that if nothing at the classically prestigious level would do, then I'd search through less well-known guilds to find the right match.

"That sounds like a plan," Robert grinned. "Have a great trip! I hope you learn a thing or two out in the world!"

"As if the world's taught me nothing already," I almost laughed as I kicked back in my seat and waved good-naturedly to Robert and James, the other guard. They didn't stop waving until my carriage reached the ERA gates.

"So, Miss…"

"Brenner," I replied, telling my real name to a stranger for the first time in what felt like an eternity. I had a feeling I'd have to get used to it. "Natalie Brenner."

"All right, Miss Brenner," the driver asked me, "where would you like to go?"

"Take me to Margaret Town," I replied, because it was the first guild that came to mind. I was on my way to Lamia Scale.


	3. Chapter 2: Lamia Scale

Chapter 3: Lamia Scale

"Well, here we are," the driver announced as we pulled into Margaret Town. I made sure to pay him his requested fee and thank him before he rode away. After quickly checking into a nearby hotel and setting my bags down, I was ready to see what the Lamia Scale guild had to offer.

The town itself was lovely; it was split down the middle by a long river that I could easily imagine spending my lazy days walking alongside. Local vendors seemed to see the appeal of the river as well, and I picked up an ice cream cone as I continued on my merry way to the guild. The icy vanilla was a perfect deterrent to the humidity, and was easily some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted.

I had just finished licking the cone off of my fingers when I came across the giant green mermaid statue that marked the entrance to Lamia Scale. While I was slightly miffed at how sexualized the mermaid's breasts were, I figured that a statue did not represent the true values of a guild. Also, I knew that complaining about the objectification of women in Fiore was practically a lost cause. I had tried in the past to convince ERA that they should nudge Sorcerer Weekly towards focusing on the power of the women who they were putting on their covers every week instead of only portraying them half-nude, but the Council refused to listen to me.

I walked inside the guild hall. Immediately, something didn't feel quite right to me. The walls were made up of green bricks, and the setting was lovely, but something about it just felt off from the get-go. It's hard to explain, but when I'm choosing a new place to settle into, I usually go with my initial gut reaction. Sometimes, you can know if you'll fit in somewhere the second you walk in the door, and other times, that first reaction will be that you don't feel at home. Lamia Scale definitely fit into the latter category for me.

"Welcome!" a girl with pink hair greeted as I stepped through the door. She looked like she was about eight or nine years old, and I was surprised that a guild would recruit someone so young. "Are you here to put in a job request?"

"No," I smiled back at her. I couldn't help it; she was too cute. "I'm actually just looking at the guild. I'm currently an unregistered wizard, and I'm looking at potential guilds to join." The unregistered part of that was actually true; with my being a spy, Gran Doma wanted me to be as off the grid as possible. Now, however, that would have to change, and I think he knew that.

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed happily. "Well then, welcome to Lamia Scale! My name's Chelia, and I'm more than happy to tour you around."

Chelia…that name sounded familiar. Then I remembered that she was a student who Gran Doma had taken a particular interest in because of her magic skills, which were incredibly high for a girl her age.

"All right," I replied, "give me the rundown. What is it like to be a Lamia Scale mage?"

Chelia gave me more than a rundown; she gave me a non-stop monologue about every place and current member in the guild. It was incredibly informative, and I saw immediately why Grand Doma liked her. Back when I was younger, I acted a lot like she did when I first arrived at ERA.

"So, Chelia," I asked an hour later as we sat at the bar and the barmaid handed us two strawberry milkshakes (Chelia swore that Lamia Scale's barmaid made the best strawberry milkshakes in Fiore, so I figured, why not?), "how do you know so much about Lamia Scale? Are you a member?" I found it unlikely that she was, but I knew some guilds recruited orphans with magical powers and took care of them like family. Perhaps Lamia Scale was one of those guilds.

"No, I'm not a member yet silly; I'm still in school!" Chelia exclaimed. "My cousin was a member though, but she's been gone for a while now. She left the guild. I'm so sorry; I bet she would've given you a better tour."

"Nonsense," I smiled, "I'm sure you did a better job than she ever could."

Chelia beamed, and her smile was almost as bright as the sun. Her poker face was almost as good as mine; I would never have been able to guess that her cousin had been missing for years if she hadn't told me.

"If I may ask," I pried, "why did your cousin leave Lamia Scale? It's an incredibly powerful guild, and if her magic is anything like yours, she could take high-paying jobs. She would have a comfortable life here, I'm sure."

"She left because she found the monster that destroyed her town," Shelia replied, turning somber. "A while back, a monster named Deliora crushed my cousin's village, killing almost everyone there, including my aunt Mary and uncle Bourbon. A couple of years ago, she and two other Lamia Scale wizards met up with this guy that she called the King of Cool or something like that. They left the guild, went to hunt down Deliora, and we haven't heard from them since."

"Chelia, I'm so sorry," I said. "I hope you hear from them soon. Is there anything ERA can do to help? I have some pull there, so I could ask them to send out a search party or something."

"I don't think there's anything you can do," Chelia replied sadly. "But thanks for asking. I think my family will be fine. After all, we Blendys have the power of love on our side!"

I had seen this act before, of a child trying to fight through pain. This was me, when that boy found me in the well. However, while I used logic to cope, this girl clearly used optimism and her faith in her family. I felt bad that I asked her about her cousin now that I knew the truth, but again, wanting to know more about people and solve mysteries was a habit of mine.

"I'm sure you do," I assured her, though I was skeptical. We sipped our shakes in silence. Well, I sipped. She gulped.

"So," Chelia asked me as she slurped down the last of her shake, "do you need to see anything else? Anything you'd like to know?"

"No, thank you," I replied, "I think I've seen everything I need to. Also," I added, "I'm sorry I asked about your cousin. That wasn't fair to you."

"It's okay," Chelia smiled. "You would have found out about it soon anyway. This whole incident made a huge impact on our guild because we lost three members, but we're already bouncing back! I just know it."

"I'm sure you will; after all, with you at the helm, how could you not? Thank you for everything, Chelia. Have a great day!" And with that, I left Lamia Scale, knowing that I would not be joining. Guilds are like families, and they had clearly suffered a massive loss recently. Lamia Scale was impressive, but I wasn't sure I wanted to be part of a family that was trying to rebuild after a tragedy. They needed to come together and fix this themselves as best they could. Otherwise, they would just turn away potential new members, who might mistakenly think that members of this guild would turn their backs on it in an instant if they saw an opportunity to. The only reason I didn't feel that way about Lamia Scale was because I'd heard the story behind why they left from Chelia.

The next morning, I hailed a boar and carriage after I checked out of my quaint hotel room, and asked to go to Beauregard Town. Next stop: Blue Pegasus. I could only hope that this visit was less tragic.


	4. Chapter 3: Blue Pegasus

**This will be the last "prequel" chapter. Next up, we start to sink into the good stuff (aka CANON)! I can't wait. Thanks to all 3 of my followers: JcL107, NanobotEX, and anacatarina962! Reminder: if you'd like to send in an OC for this story, the form is in my profile. Now, on with the show!**

Chapter 4: Blue Pegasus

Beauregard Town, as its name might suggest in the native tongue of its founder, was beautiful to look at. As the boar and carriage pulled up to my hotel for the night, I felt like I was riding through a fairytale forest with enchanting surprises around every turn. After I checked into my new temporary room, I walked around the town and explored.

While this town didn't have a river, which made me somewhat sad, it did have a lovely view of the nearby Alpine Mountains through the forest. I quickly realized that Beauregard Town was located in the middle of a valley, so the mountains looked especially grand and imposing.

The food coming out of the restaurants smelled delicious. Unlike Margaret Town, this place wasn't as much of a tourist trap in the summer, so everything felt quieter and more local here. I had a wonderful lunch at a tavern close to Blue Pegasus; I was almost tempted to join the guild just so I could enjoy food like this every day. The food was clearly made with fresh ingredients, and if the chef of a local and relatively affordable tavern could make food this good, I wondered how good something more upscale in Margaret Town could be. My mouth watered at the thought.

I cleared my head of thoughts about food as I drew nearer to the Blue Pegasus guild. Now, it was time to think business. Would I fit in with this guild, or not? When I saw the pink bricks and the latticed gates that made up the exterior of the guild building, I thought it could be possible. After all, Blue Pegasus was known as one of the most erudite guilds in Fiore, and I was nothing if not that.

As soon as I opened the door, three young men rushed to greet me. I recognized them immediately; they were the Trimens, three of Blue Pegasus's most powerful wizards.

"Welcome," greeted one of them, Hibiki Lates.

"Welcome," greeted another, Eve Tearm.

"Welcome," greeted the final one, Ren Akatsuki.

"Hello," I smiled politely. "I was wondering if I could get a tour of the guild, along with some more information. I'm an unregistered wizard, and I've been looking at guilds across Fiore to see which one is the best fit for me."

"Then you've come to the right people," Hibiki smiled. "I'm Hibiki, and these men are Eve," he gestured to the short blonde, "and Ren," he gestured to the dark-skinned man trying to hide his face. Others might have thought that Ren was shy or anti-social, but I knew about the Trimens, so I knew their game; after all, I'd pulled similar stunts myself on jobs for ERA. However, in the Trimens' case, their alternate personas were probably heavily based on their real personalities. Mine definitely weren't.

"We can show you everything this guild has to offer," Hibiki continued smoothly. "Right this way." I followed him into the most ostentatious greeting room I had ever seen. Everything was pink, and guests waited on plush velvet couches while Blue Pegasus members of both sexes waited on and entertained them, making sure that they were comfortable.

"This is the Blue Pegasus greeting room," Hibiki smiled. "It's a guild feature that only we use. We like to ensure that our clients are treated with style. Speaking of that," he said as the doorbell rang, "Eve, Ren, I believe that's your cue to entertain some more guests. I can handle the tour from here."

The two men ran off after saying their polite goodbyes, and I was left alone with Hibiki. I knew that most girls' hearts would be doing backflips at the thought, but men like Hibiki weren't really my type. Sure, he was handsome, and very charming, but there was also something very fake about him that I wasn't personally impressed with.

Hibiki led me around the rest of the building, which was very nice, but very pink, which didn't surprise me much at all. I had heard things from my ERA co-workers about the Blue Pegasus guild master, Bob, and all of this pink was most definitely his idea. I felt overwhelmed by glamour as Hibiki was giving me the tour. Almost every single guild member was dressed to the nines, and it seemed to be expected of the women to tease the male customers into thinking they just might be lucky enough to take them home. I was also getting the impression that Blue Pegasus relied heavily on the beauty of its members, and its own hospitality, to gain intelligence on rival guilds and other matters. I appreciated the fact that this guild was less battle-focused and more intelligence-focused, and I knew that my skills would fit right in here. However, I also figured that Blue Pegasus would most likely find some of my more seductive covers more appealing than the real Nat Brenner, and I wanted to figure myself out before I started slipping into alternate identities again. As Hibiki gently escorted me to the door after our tour was finished, I knew that Blue Pegasus was also out of the running.

After another lovely dinner and breakfast in Beauregard Town, I hailed a boar and carriage, and headed towards my third stop: Magnolia. Despite Gran Doma's hesitations towards Fairy Tail, I felt like I had to check it out for myself. After all, I knew that if any guild desperately needed people like me, it was them.


	5. Chapter 4: Fairy Tail

**Hoo boy, this chapter may be the longest one I've ever written for this site, so buckle your** **seat belts, everyone! Thanks so much to Sesumi for submitting an OC, who you'll be meeting soon, and for being the fourth follower! I really appreciate it. Also, a word about the OCs: Nat has recently gotten Level 8 Clearance from ERA and STI (Story Tellers Inc.), which means that she has access to the SEG (Stu/Sue/Sx Elimination Gun). If you're going to send me an OC, please don't make her pick it up and fire it. It looks like a giant bazooka, and she can't wait to play with it. However, she and I are all about not killing people's characters/ideas right away, so before she whips out the SEG, I'll give you a chance to work with me to improve your character. Basically, the point is if I get a Mary Sue/Gary Stu/Alex Sx, I will try and work with you and give you the chance to develop your character so that they are fleshed out enough for my story. If nothing can be done, then I'm afraid I will have no choice but to blast them away with the SEG, and they will be rejected. Sorry, but that's how it is. If you want to create an OC, I don't want you to be intimidated: no one is perfect, especially when you haven't created too many characters, and I'm more than happy to work with you! Enjoy the chapter, and again, if you have a character that you'd like to share, please don't let this introduction scare you off from sending them in!**

Chapter 5: Fairy Tail

As soon as the boar and carriage driver dropped me off in Magnolia, I grinned. Finally, a large town! I loved cities. In more populated areas, it was easier to disappear, and I have to say, I prefer that kind of environment to a small town where everyone knows everybody else. Must be a spy thing.

Anyway, as I was walking through Magnolia looking for a hotel, I saw a blonde girl being harassed by a thug.

"Hey blondie," he sneered, "that top looks cute, but I bet you'd look better without it."

The girl shivered, but she looked like she was used to this. She simply ignored him, and kept walking.

"Hey!" he called out. "Don't ignore me! Fucking bitch!"

I made sure to keep the girl in my sights, in case things got ugly. Sure enough, a few seconds after she passed him, he started to follow her. Putting my current need for a hotel aside, I followed the stalker, who was still following the blonde.

I was hoping that she would be able to shake him in the crowd, but this stalker was persistent. I decided to weave around him, and try for a non-magical, indirect approach before I confronted him. While I know how to fight, I like to pick my battles carefully. If I don't have to fight a creep, I won't.

"Susan?" I called out once I was close enough to meet the girl's eyes. "Hey girl! I almost didn't recognize you in this big crowd!" I started walking towards her, and sure enough, I could see out of the corner of my eye that the stalker was starting to grow wary. Now that the blonde wasn't alone, he didn't feel brave enough to make another move.

She seemed to know this tactic very well. "Hey girl!" she called back with a beaming smile, and let me approach her. "How was work?"

At this point, the creep had had enough, and slunk back into the crowd. Once we both realized he was gone, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness you were here," she said with a thankful smile. "That guy was starting to creep me out."

"Did you know he was stalking you?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but before you showed up, my original plan was to lead him to the guild hall, which is where I was going anyway." Her smile turned dark. "I'd hate to know what would've happened if Erza found out that a creep was tailing me."

I knew exactly who she was talking about. Then again, almost everyone in Fiore had heard the name Erza Scarlet at least once. She was not known for being very merciful to people who she considered to be her enemies.

"I'm heading to the guild too," I replied, "but I need to drop off this bag first. Do you know of any affordable hotels around here?"

"Yeah, I do, but I know of a better place to drop off your bag," she grinned. "It's a little out of our way, but you can stay in my place while you're in Magnolia!"

"Seriously?" I asked as she turned around, heading for her home, I assumed.

"Of course!" she replied as she grabbed my rolling bag with her right hand, which I noticed had a pink Fairy Tail guild mark on it. I knew that if I ever joined a guild, I wouldn't put my mark in such an obvious location. "Think of it as a thank you for saving me from that guy. Besides, I've always wanted a roommate, and I have a spare room! My name's Lucy by the way. It's nice to meet you!"

"My name's Natalie," I said, unsure of whether or not we were close enough for nicknames yet. I thought not. "and I think I'll take you up on your offer. It's hard to say no to a free room."

I followed Lucy back to her place. It was in a quieter section of Magnolia, and the house was quaint. I was surprised that she could already afford a place like this despite the fact that she looked about my age. Either Fairy Tail wizards made loads more money than other guilds' wizards for the same jobs, or Magnolia was an incredibly affordable town. As soon as I had unpacked my bag in her spare room, I went down the stairs to the front door, where Lucy was waiting for me. We then headed out for Fairy Tail.

"So," I said, "I'm looking to possibly join your guild, but I'd love to learn more about Fairy Tail before I make my decision. What's it like being there?"

Lucy grinned a megawatt smile that was brighter than any of the fake smiles I'd seen at Blue Pegasus. "It's the best," she replied honestly. "Everyone is so warm and welcoming, and it's like you're living with a big family. Ever since I joined Fairy Tail, my life's never been better!"

"I've heard you guys are really powerful," I quietly pressed.

"We have a lot of strong members, yeah," Lucy replied, "but they're really cool, and incredible people! I'm good friends with a few of them, actually, and I'd be happy to introduce you if you wanted to meet them."

"I just might take you up on that," I replied. "I was more wondering about all the chaos that Fairy Tail's known for. Are all the rumors true?"

"Unfortunately," Lucy sweat-dropped, "most of them are. My friends do tend to overdo things a lot, especially Natsu. He's the worst with that sort of thing. I've tried to reign him in but…" she sighed, "it's impossible. At this point, I just hope for the best."

The way she talked about her friend Natsu made me think there was more to the story there than what she was telling me, but I knew better than to press for details. If a girl has a crush on someone, it would take a lot of pressure to make her confess it, especially to someone who was practically a stranger.

"I see," I replied, "so you want someone to help with damage control. If I joined the guild, I might be able to do that."

"Really?!" Lucy grinned, and I swore I could see her eyes starting to shine. "You mean that I would ACTUALLY be able to make money on a job instead of having to go home empty-handed because we had to pay for Natsu destroying another building?"

I was seriously starting to wonder how she was able to afford that house at this point.

"Yeah," I replied almost awkwardly. The shining eyes thing was starting to freak me out a bit, and the fact that Lucy found it so normal to spend her hard-earned money on having to ameliorate for her friend's destructive tendencies was concerning to me.

This was what Fairy Tail was known for: getting the job done, but completely overdoing it. If I worked with them, especially if I worked with Natsu and Lucy from the sounds of things, I might not profit as much from a job as I would like to. That was definitely something I knew I would have to keep in mind. However, I liked talking to Lucy. She seemed like she was smart, and she definitely had a good heart, though she seemed a bit naive. She welcomed me into her own home after only meeting me for five minutes, for crying out loud. I knew that I had saved her from a creeper, but if we were in opposite positions, I would have simply recommended her a good local hotel, thanked her, and tried to part ways as soon as possible.

"Seriously," Lucy said, her eyes turning back to normal, "if you join this guild, I want you on my team. You seem like the kind of person who knows how to keep trouble to a minimum."

This was the first time anyone had ever said anything like that to me. Usually, I worked alone, and when I did work on teams, my fellow team members would know each other better than they knew me. While they filled me in on the intelligence briefings and helped me plan strategies, in the end, I would end up doing the nastiest parts of the job solo due to my skill set. My teammates would take the target into custody, and promptly leave me alone.

"I appreciate that," I replied sincerely, "and I'll consider it."

"I hope you do. Well, here we are!" Lucy gestured with her arm at a large building in front of us with the Fairy Tail banner, along with a couple of others, draped from the second floor window. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Natalie!"

I heard a loud crash, and as soon as Lucy led me through the door, I realized that most of the guild was listening to a shouting match between two of its members.

"You wanna say that again, stripper?!" I heard a boy scream.

"Sure thing flame brain," another boy responded, "but I'm not sure you're smart enough to understand it if you didn't get it the first time."

"I CAN UNDERSTAND ANYTHING YOU SAY, ICE PRINCESS!"

"Well, I'm not sure you can, seeing as I'm not the one who walked into the girls' bathroom in Magnolia Station."

"And as I said, I was too sick from the train ride to notice the difference! Besides, why does a pervert even care about which bathroom he uses, anyway?"

"Do you really want to do this today, dragon breath?!"

"Bring it on, you stupid perv!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed as the two leapt at each other and immediately started throwing punches and kicks. She seemed to think that this was perfectly normal, even though to me, seeing two guild members duke it out was a bit of a shock.

"Sorry about them," she apologized, "they do this so often that I've just learned to leave it alone. The only one who can truly break them up is Erza. We all teamed up recently to beat the Eisenwald guild, but considering Natsu and Gray's relationship," she said, gesturing to the two who were currently trying to beat each other to death, "I'm not sure if we're going to be repeating that anytime soon."

"Those two were able to team up?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," Lucy said, smiling. "They make a pretty good team when they're not trying to kill each other. They're both really powerful wizards, but they're fire and ice mages, so they're not really made to get along."

"I see," I replied, not quite understanding how two members of the same guild could be a great team and also completely despise each other, but I was starting to realize that with the Fairy Tail guild, logic and common sense were left at the door.

Lucy seemed to notice my confusion. "It's okay. Everyone's taken by surprise when they walk in here at first. I remember that I definitely was. When I first walked in the door, the entire guild was about to break out their magic in a massive brawl. The master put it down before things got too crazy though."

She seemed to remember it fondly. "Oh yeah," she continued, "I'm also pretty new here, so from one newbie to another, welcome!"

"Thanks," I replied while scanning the inside of the building. It wasn't nearly as fancy as Blue Pegasus's, or as imposing as Lamia Scale's, but it was warm and lively, which couldn't be said for the other two guilds. The guild members were either drinking with each other and sharing stories, watching Natsu and Gray attempt to kill each other (I could have sworn I heard a girl trying to start a betting pool on that fight), or just relaxing and having a good time. Out of all the guilds I had visited so far, this guild was definitely the one that really knew how to let loose.

"Hey Lucy!" a white-haired girl, who I quickly recognized was Mirajane Strauss, called from behind the bar. "Is your friend here a new member?"

The entire guild, even Natsu and Gray, stopped fighting and stared at me. I had to fight the urge to turn invisible and walk out the door.

"Uh," Lucy replied, "no, not yet. She told me that she's been visiting a bunch of guilds and is trying to see which one is the right fit for her."

"Oh," Mirajane replied, before her face broke out into a beaming smile. "Well then, why don't you both come over here, and I'll answer any questions that your friend has?"

I could feel the guild's eyes on me until I sat down with Lucy at the bar, and then, people slowly started to go back to whatever they were doing. Thankfully, I didn't hear anymore battle noises, so I figured that Natsu and Gray had stopped fighting.

"So what's your name?" Mirajane asked.

"Natalie Brenner," I replied.

Mirajane looked thoughtful for a moment before she turned back to me.

"I'm Mirajane, but please, call me Mira!" She smiled before she leaned in and asked, "Did you used to work for the Magic Council?"

"Yes, up until last week," I replied honestly. "But that intelligence was supposed to be classified. How did you know?"

"You did the reconnaissance for an S-class quest that my siblings and I went on two years ago to capture a beast," she replied quietly. "I remember the villagers telling me that Natalie Brenner from the Magic Council was the one who had provided them with a primary surveillance report, and told them to make it an S-class quest. Also, I assumed that since you're here, you must have left them."

I remembered that quest now, and its tragic aftermath.

"I am so sorry for what happened to you and your family on that quest," I muttered back sincerely. "However, the villagers weren't supposed to tell you that I was the one who gathered the intelligence to help them make their job posting."

"We can't all be great secret-keepers, I guess," Mira said, before returning her volume to normal. "So, would you like something to drink, Natalie?"

"What have you got?" I asked her.

"Just about everything. We have food too, if you're hungry."

"I'll take a root beer float, and I'll also take a look at the menu." I replied. Mira quickly handed me a menu while she went to go scoop out some ice cream for my float. Considering that it was now about 5:00 in the evening, the guild hall was only serving appetizers; it would start serving dinner in an hour, according to their menu.

When Mira returned with my float, I decided to order the buffalo calamari, and made sure to give her the appropriate change.

"So newbie, do you use fire magic?" A boy with pink hair who was either Natsu or Gray had sat down at the stool on my left side. I was surprised at myself that I couldn't see him coming in my peripheral vision, or sense his magic moving closer, but I knew I was tired and hungry, so my concentration was fuzzier than usual.

"No," I replied, "why did you think that?"

"Because from where I'm sitting, your magic smells really hot."

"Excuse me?" I'd dealt with my fair share of creeps in the past, as well as their seemingly unlimited numbers of terrible pick-up lines. My body started to naturally tense up as adrenaline rushed into my guts, and I was prepared to swing a left hook right at his face if he moved even an inch closer. I'd had to do that a few times when I was at bars on missions. It never ended pleasantly.

"No, I'm serious, it feels really warm over here!" he called out, and then I realized that this boy was not trying to pick me up; he genuinely meant what he said. I started to relax my muscles.

"Really?" the boy who he had been fighting asked him. He was standing on my right side. "Because it feels cold over here. You sure you're feeling all right, pinky?"

Wait a minute…now that I got a better look at him, the boy on the right looked like the boy from the well and if it was him, damn…he got hot.

"Want to see how 'all right' I'm feeling, you jerk?!" Now that I thought about it, I vaguely recognized the pink-haired one as well. I thought it was funny how life provided me with this strange coincidence; I never thought that I would see either of them again…

"Will both of you shut up?" I quietly hissed, starting to get annoyed with their constant bickering as I was trying to think. Thankfully, they calmed down as Mira came back with my food.

"Wait, is that the spicy calamari?" the pink-haired boy asked.

"With a root beer float?" the dark-haired one followed up.

"Yes, it is," I groaned. "And my magic has nothing to do with being hot or cold, just so you know."

"Well, what kind of magic is it?" the pink-haired boy asked. "Since you're going to be joining us, you might as well just…OW!"

He was interrupted by Lucy whacking him upside the head. "She hasn't decided which guild she's gonna join yet, you idiot, and your creepy behavior is NOT HELPING!"

"Sorry," he said to me, rubbing his chin. "That really hurt, Lucy!"

"Well I wouldn't have to do it if you weren't being such a weirdo! That's Natsu, by the way," she told me, "and the guy on your right is Gray."

"Nice to meet you, newbie," Gray commented absentmindedly as he started taking his shirt off right in front of me. Thankfully, before he could fully do so, and before I could get it in my head that I maybe hoped he wouldn't stop, Lucy kicked him in the face.

"DON'T TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF IN FRONT OF A STRANGER!" she yelled. I was impressed with her strength; she sent a boy twice her size flying across the guildhall.

"Does he always do that?" I asked as I started to munch on my calamari.

"Yeah, he does," a new voice chimed in from behind me. "It's always been a weird habit of his for some reason."

I turned around in my chair and was met with the cutest sight I had ever seen. A winged blue cat was staring right at me with large, adorable eyes. His head was larger than the rest of his body, and I immediately wanted to cuddle him to death. I had always been a cat person; my family had owned a cat at the time that Daphne cursed our town. It would be a miracle if it had survived this long.

"And this is Happy, Natsu's cat," Lucy introduced.

"Can I cuddle him?" I asked quietly.

"Of course you can!" Happy replied, well, happily, and I could have squealed with joy. I was so overwhelmed by his cuteness that it didn't even occur to me to wonder how he could talk, and why he was blue. "But first, you have to catch me ten fresh fish and bring them back."

"Happy!" Lucy exclaimed. I was glad she'd snapped me out of it, because I was ready to go buy fish then and there. Anything to cuddle that adorable cat. "We're trying to get her to join our guild, not blackmail her!"

"But Lucy, I want a fish!" Happy whined. "It's been a long day, and I'm hungry."

"Here you go, Happy!" Mira cheerfully called out as she passed him a raw fish. He sat down on the table next to me as he cheerfully dug into his dinner.

"Is this what life is always like here?" I asked Lucy as I absentmindedly started scratching Happy behind the ears. My cat in Amartha had always loved when I did that, so I assumed that Happy would too. He closed his eyes and sighed contentedly, which I presumed to be a sign that I should continue.

"A little to the left, please," Happy requested, and I complied. "That feels so good. Natsu's never done this."

"Thanks," I smiled, the nostalgia of playing with my own cat at home hitting me like a tidal wave. "I had a pet cat at home, so that's where the idea came from."

"Had?" Lucy asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now," I muttered, focusing intently on scratching Happy's ears.

"Okay," Lucy replied sympathetically as I dug into my calamari with my free hand, and promptly realized that I should have taken greater care before putting two of those rings into my mouth. I quickly spooned off some ice cream from my float to cool it down.

"A little to the right," Happy ordered, and I did as he asked. I was seriously considering joining Fairy Tail for the cat alone. He'd wormed his way into my heart in two minutes. However, it wasn't just Happy. The longer I spent in the Fairy Tail guild hall, the more I could see myself working there. I knew that their principles were completely opposite to mine in many ways, but as soon as I'd started talking to people like Lucy and Mira, they had treated me like I was part of the family instead of an honored guest like at Blue Pegasus, or a tourist like at Lamia Scale. I wondered if I should head out of Magnolia and look at other guilds, but I had a feeling that this one would be harder to leave than the others. However, I knew that it was simply being in the guild and enjoying everyone's company at this current moment that was influencing my decision. I'd have to put some distance between myself and Fairy Tail for a bit before I decided to join.

I stayed and hung out with Lucy and Mira until Lucy decided to leave, and since she had the keys to her apartment, I had to leave with her.

"So, did you want to see anything in Magnolia before we call it a day?" Lucy asked as we walked home. I was delighted that she seemed to like to walk alongside water as much as I did; the route she led me down was adjacent to a river.

"Not really, no," I replied, "but I would like to know where I can get my hair done."

Lucy grinned mischievously.

"I know a top stylist who will do your hair for free!"

"Really?" I asked skeptically.

"Oh yeah, and the best part is, he does house calls," Lucy's grin got even bigger, "so you'll never have to go to a salon or pay for a hairdo again."

I was starting to wonder why Natsu, and now Lucy, were just assuming that I would join their guild and stay with them. It wasn't that the idea was unappealing; I just had to try and balance things out, and maybe see what else was out there before I made any sort of final decision on where I was going to stay for good.

"That sounds incredible," I replied.

"Hey, not to pry or anything, but your hair looks like it's just been done," Lucy commented. "You must take really good care of it."

"Thanks!" I said. "I try to. After all, for each new mission, I have to re-style it. It's just one way to remain invisible."

"What's another way?" she asked.

"Changing your style," I replied. I wasn't ready to tell her about my magic yet. I didn't like to reveal my magic until I had gotten close to someone. People tend not to like being friends with someone who can turn invisible at will for many reasons; the most common one is that people assume that their invisible friend could be stalking them at any time, and they would never know. This tends to make people paranoid.

"Well, here we are! Home sweet home." Lucy smiled as she walked into the house, and I followed. "Follow me, and I'll introduce you to your new free hairstylist."

I decided not to correct her and say that I would most likely only be using his or her services once, and followed her into her room.

Needless to say, I was surprised to see Gray sitting in Lucy's armchair when we walked in the door. I wondered for a moment if he was the hairstylist, but Lucy seemed just as shocked as I was.

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" she yelled, and kicked him in the face, sending him and her armchair toppling to the ground.

"Geez Lucy, if you don't want people coming into your house, you shouldn't make it so easy to break in," was his only response. I was stunned.

"Well," Lucy replied smugly, "I bet my new roommate is going to be VERY good at coming up with extra safety measures, aren't you, Natalie?"

"Well, I was trained pretty well by my former employers," I shrugged, "so I could boy-proof this house pretty quickly. Where should we start? Window alarms, or keeping a fire lit in the fireplace at all times so they can't come in through the chimney?"

Great. Now _I_ was talking as if I wasn't going to be leaving for a while. I guess Natsu and Lucy really were growing on me quickly.

"The fire's no good; Natsu's a Fire Dragon Slayer. He'd just eat it," Lucy mused, "but if we put a bear trap in there…"

"I know a place you can get one that's pretty close to here," I commented.

"You guys are crazy," Gray muttered as he walked out the door, and I could have sworn I felt his eyes on me as he left. I quickly labeled that as wishful thinking.

"Okay, so now that he's gone, we can do your hair!" Lucy squealed as she pulled off a key from her belt. "All right Nat, it's time for you to meet your new hairstylist!"

"You're a celestial wizard," I noticed.

"Yeah. Honestly, I'm surprised at myself for not bringing it up before. I know that I'm not as crazy strong as Natsu, Gray, or Erza, but I can hold my own in a fight pretty well."

"I've heard of celestial wizards, but I've never met one before, so this is actually pretty cool!"

"Well, now you can say that you're friends with one!" Lucy smiled as she called out, "Open, Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"

I saw a large blue magic circle with a keyhole image in its center form before a man with hair done up in crab-themed dreadlocks and sunglasses stepped out of it. He was holding a pair of crab-claw themed scissors in each hand with long points. I was terrified to think that if things went Lucy's way, those sharp scissors would soon be slicing through my hair.

"Hi, baby," he said, "how may I help you this evening?"

"My friend Nat needs a haircut. Care to help me out?"

"Of course, baby," he said. "So, dear," he said, talking to me now.

"She gets to be called 'dear,' and he still calls me 'baby'?" I heard Lucy quietly grumble to herself.

"How would you like your hair done?" the spirit continued.

I stared nervously at his scissors. The spirit seemed to sense my discomfort.

"Don't worry, dear," he reassured, "I've styled baby's hair many times in the past. I know how to use these."

"He's always done a great job with my hair!" Lucy encouraged. I had to admit, her hair looked pretty great. I envied girls with longer hair than me. I had never grown mine out because as a kid, my parents always cut it short, and being a spy, I was constantly having to put my hair under wigs or get into fights with thugs where long hair would only be a hindrance.

"Okay," I agreed, "I'd like my hair to be wavy, and could you dye it red?"

"What shade of red would you like, dear?" Cancer asked.

"Dark red," I decided, "I'd rather not be a tomato."

"Would you like me to add extensions, or keep it short?"

"Let's keep it short," I said.

"All right dear," Cancer said as Lucy set up a mirror, "let's get to work."

While Cancer cut my hair, Lucy told me about all of her recent adventures with her friends taking down the Eisenwald guild. I soon realized that the dark guild members were the ones behind the destruction of Oshibana Station, but Fairy Tail certainly didn't help matters either.

"So Lucy," I asked, "you've told me a lot about Natsu in your adventures, but you've never really mentioned Gray or Erza. Why?"

"Well," Lucy replied, "the long and short of it is that I haven't worked with them often. I work with Natsu all the time. Have I told you how I met him yet?"

"No, you haven't told me that one," I said as Cancer cut off another split end.

"Well…" As she talked, I got lost in her story, and forgot all about Cancer and his ridiculously large and sharp scissors. She told me about how she had bumped into Natsu in Hargeon, and how he had inadvertently saved her from a Love Magic spell, and actually saved her from a creep. She made sure to mention that she had helped him too by summoning Aquarius and washing the boat ashore.

"Natsu has a real problem with motion sickness," she commented. "You'll probably see tomorrow."

"Why will I see tomorrow?" I asked.

"Because I'm going on a job, silly, so Natsu will probably end up tagging along," Lucy smiled as Cancer finished up with my hair, "and I was thinking that you were going to come along too. If not, I totally get it. You're not a member yet, and…"

"While I might not be a member," I replied carefully, "I am curious as to how you guys work."

"All finished, dear," Cancer commented. I looked in the mirror to find the best haircut I had ever received. I couldn't find any flaws in Cancer's work, and my hair had been dyed a beautiful deep red.

"Thank you," was all I could manage to say.

"Anything for my baby's friends," Cancer replied. "Will that be all, baby?"

"Yep!" Lucy cheerfully confirmed.

"Then I'll see you soon," Cancer said, pushing up his sunglasses before he disappeared.

"I have to say, this was not how I imagined my visit to Fairy Tail would go at all."

"We do have a habit of surprising people," Lucy shrugged. "I'm gonna go to bed now, I think. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, and trust me, you're going to want to get some sleep."

"I think you're probably right," I said as I stepped out of her room. "Good night, Lucy!"

"Night, Nat!" Lucy called back as she started to change into her pajamas. I made sure to leave quickly so as to give her some privacy. My tactical side was telling me to leave before I got too attached to Fairy Tail, but my gut instinct was to stick around. Even though I hadn't been at the guild for a long time, I had already made one friend, and I thought it was possible that I would make more friends very soon. I decided to compromise and not join the guild right away, but to go on this job with Lucy and her friends tomorrow. It would be a good way for me to see if I could work with this squad or not. Considering the reputation of some of its members, however, I knew this might be a disaster. Eventually, after tossing and turning for a while, I decided to withhold my pre-conceptions about this guild, and see what happened. In a way, I was excited to find out.


	6. Chapter 5: Bandits and Sleazy Politician

**Special shoutout to Derekjay2000 for sending in some great OCs! One of them is featured in this chapter. Reminder: OC form is on my profile if anyone's interested in sending me characters.**

Chapter 5: Bandits and Sleazy Politicians

The next morning I woke up to the smell of food cooking. Once I had changed out of my pajamas into my tactical suit, I walked into the kitchen to find Lucy cooking scrambled eggs and bacon. She had already poured out two glasses of orange juice.

"Morning!" she cheerfully called to me as I entered.

"Morning," I replied somewhat sleepily.

"Sleep well?" she asked as she flipped the bacon over.

"Yeah," I smiled slightly, "the bed was really cozy. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!" Lucy chirped as she scrambled the eggs.

"How can you afford this place? Are your parents helping you pay for it, or can you afford it on your own?"

A shadow crossed Lucy's face when I mentioned her parents, and I told myself to not bring the subject up again.

"I can afford it on my own," she replied, "Magnolia's a really affordable town, so if you want your own place, it'll be pretty easy to find one."

"I don't think I'll be buying real estate just yet," I said as I sat down.

Lucy finished cooking breakfast, and piled the food onto two plates. I was somewhat surprised to see that the food looked delicious; for some reason, Lucy never struck me as a cook.

"Nice suit," she commented as she gazed at it. "I wish I could have a cool costume like that."

I didn't know what to say except: "Thank you!"

We ate the rest of our breakfast in a comfortable silence, and then headed off to the guild.

"Typically, we take jobs from the request board. Every guild has one, so no matter where you end up, that's the first place you'll go when you arrive at work," Lucy explained as we walked. "Also, people typically work in teams and split the money earned from a job, at least in Fairy Tail. Maybe at other guilds, people work alone more."

"Morning ladies," a man said as he sauntered up to us, "You look like you haven't had breakfast yet. I've got some free sausage right here, if you want to take a peek."

"Ugh," Lucy shuddered. Unfortunately, he was standing in front of us; when we tried to ignore him and walk around him, he stepped in front of us, blocking our way forward.

"You'll change your mind when you see the goods, trust me," he grinned.

"I really don't think we will," Lucy replied. "Also, we're both Fairy Tail wizards, so if you want to keep this conflict going, go right ahead! We'll make you get out of our way one way or another."

"Wait…" the guy started to sweat as he saw Lucy's hand, "you chicks are wizards? I'm outta here!" he yelled as he took off.

"Are you just a creep magnet or something?" I asked.

"Apparently," Lucy sighed. "However, being a young, attractive woman has its perks, as I'm sure you know."

I smiled at the compliment. "Thanks."

Thankfully, the rest of our walk to the guild was uneventful. Once we got there, Lucy quickly walked over to the request board, and I followed her, curious about what kinds of jobs most wizards got every day. As Lucy searched for a job, I glanced at some others on the other side of the board. I had to admit, I was intrigued. Most of these jobs involved capturing monsters in far-off places, or fighting off robber gangs that had attacked local towns. All of them paid well, or at least decently. I had gotten paid for my work with the Magic Council, but these jobs paid just as well, if not better, than they did.

Just as I had started to reminisce about the Magic Council, I sensed a familiar burst of magic at Fairy Tail's door. As soon as I spun around to investigate, a small pinprick of light whizzed through the open door, and came five feet in front of my face.

"Hello Sylph," I greeted. "Would you mind backing up a little? I'm going cross-eyed trying to look at your face."

The small fairy did so, but not before assaulting my eyes with a wave of dust. I had gotten used to her doing this and hoped she'd stop, but unfortunately, there was no avoiding it with her.

"Good morning, Natalie," she huffed as I scrubbed the dust out of my eyes.

"Woah," someone commented behind me, "is that an actual fairy?"

"Yes," Sylph replied to him smugly, "I am a real fairy."

"We have a fairy in the Fairy Tail guild hall?" someone else called out. "I need to go tell the Master right away!"

Murmurs of excitement quickly passed around the guild, and Sylph preened as everyone stared.

"So why are you here?" I asked her, bringing her back to the point. Her face went sour.

"Galdur has a message for you, and he asked me to deliver it for him because he loves me and only me," she stated snootily.

I decided not to tell her that Galdur had been in love with a girl from his hometown for years, and he wouldn't be falling out of love with her anytime soon.

"What is it?" I asked, bored. Sylph loved to play these games with girls where she would set herself up as the one with all the answers they needed, but they had to beg her for them first. I didn't know what exactly had made Sylph such a petty woman-hater, but I wasn't fond of that trait.

"Well, he got a lead on a crime ring that specializes in making illegal magic potions and he wanted your help in busting them. I told him that he could probably do it himself, but of course he didn't listen to me," she sulked. Ah. That explained why she was so upset.

"So when does he want me to come in?" I asked. "Now?"

"No," Sylph slightly brightened at that. "He and his team have to do some reconnaissance first. I won't have to see your ugly mug for two weeks!"

"Can't wait to see you then," I deadpanned. "Is that all?"

"Thankfully for you, yes," Sylph snorted as she turned to leave the guild. "See you soon, Natalie!" she smiled as she blew more dust in my eyes.

"What's this about a fairy in the guild?" an older, gruff voice boomed from the third floor of the guild hall. Just as Sylph was about to leave, she stopped, smiled, and winked at the voice. Then she zoomed off in a flash.

"Good morning, Master!" Mirajane greeted from behind the bar.

I turned around to get a look at the master of the Fairy Tail guild. He was much shorter than the average man, but he still radiated power. I could immediately see why people respected him, despite his childish demeanor and sense of style.

"Good morning to you too, Mira!" he grinned as he hopped down from the balcony to the bar. I was amazed that someone so old could still be that nimble. He was probably about as quick as I was.

"So," he asked me as Mira handed him a cup of coffee, "was that your fairy?"

"No," I replied, "that fairy is my friend's familiar."

"Oh, a familiar," he mused. "Not many people use those anymore."

"My friend's story is a little unconventional," I admitted, "but I don't think he'd want me sharing it without his permission."

"Well, while that is fascinating, miss," he said, "I haven't seen you around before. Are you a new member of Fairy Tail?"

"I haven't joined the guild yet," I said, "but I'm seriously considering it. I'm tagging along with Lucy on a job today to see if I'll fit in."

The master turned white, and I started to get a few shivers because of that reaction.

"Please tell me you'll just be going with Lucy," the master muttered as Lucy brought over a job that she'd found on the wall.

"I think she mentioned that some people might…" I started to reply as Natsu and Happy barged into the guildhall and immediately made their way over to Lucy.

"Morning Loopy!" Natsu grinned as he slung an arm over her shoulders. "Did you find a job for us?"

"It's Lucy," she pouted, "and I was going to go on this job with Nat. I actually want to make money this time."

"Ooh, fighting robbers. This looks like it'll be fun," Natsu grinned. "C'mon Luigi, let's go!" he exclaimed as he tried to drag her out the door.

"You don't have to come with me on every single job, you know," Lucy retorted, but I could hear her start to crumble. If I didn't already have suspicions that she liked him, I definitely would have at this point.

"We're a team, Lucy, of course I'm gonna come with you for every job," Natsu replied as if that was just common sense.

"You're coming too, right Nat?" Happy asked sweetly as he flew over to me.

Of course I said yes. I was planning on going anyway, and I could never say no to that adorable cat.

"Great!" he beamed. "Hey Natsu, Nat's coming too!" he said as he flew back to his owner. I walked a few steps behind him.

"The more the merrier!" Natsu grinned back at his cat. "Okay, team, let's go fight some bandits!"

"Go team!" Happy cheered as Lucy cleared the job with Mira, and I set out on my first adventure with Team Natsu. Little did I know that it would not be the last.

"That is an awesome suit," Natsu commented as we arrived at the train station. Lucy had chosen a simple job: stop a gang of bandits that had been terrorizing a nearby town, and the quickest way to get to said town was by train. Natsu had loudly complained all the way to the station, but Lucy had stood her ground; "We're not walking all the way to Rosa!"

"Thanks," I replied. I knew I was getting a lot of stares. My suit was snug in all the "right" places, but that was mostly because I didn't like to wear loose articles of clothing that could easily be grabbed at in a fight. Lucy seemed to think differently. She wore a white sleeveless blouse with a giant blue cross on it, and a blue miniskirt that any robber could just yank at, and send her tumbling to the ground. Even if my suit got me a lot of stares in public, in a fight, it was much more practical than Lucy's outfit or Natsu's unbuttoned vest and baggy pants.

"Looks like our train's here," Lucy said.

"Great," Natsu deadpanned. "A train."

"It won't be a long ride," Lucy reassured. "It's only three stops away."

"I hate you," Natsu mumbled as we got on the train and found a car.

I didn't have to wonder why Natsu hated trains for long. As soon as the train started to move, Natsu immediately almost threw up, and was doing everything in his power to stop himself from barfing all over the train car. Thinking quickly, I looked for a window latch, and thankfully, I found one. A minute later, Happy and I had dragged Natsu's body to the other side of the car, and hung his head out the window. It felt exactly like dragging a passed out corpse to the Custody Enforcement Unit, which I had done too many times to count by now.

"Does this happen all the time?" I asked Lucy, who seemed undisturbed by the whole situation, and had calmly been reading a book as I had tried to help Natsu.

"Yep," she replied as she turned a page.

"Natsu gets sick on any kind of moving vehicle, including Lucy!" Happy chirped as he munched on a raw fish that I assumed was his breakfast.

"For the last time, I'm not a vehicle," Lucy grumbled as she read her book.

"Natsu's immune system would beg to differ…" Happy mused as Lucy's face turned red with fury.

"Happy, would you like me to give your ears a nice scratch?" I asked as a way to defuse the situation.

"Sure!" he chirped as he flew right into my lap.

"Then stop baiting Lucy," I stated as his face immediately turned shameful.

"Okay," he replied easily. Almost too easily. This cat was way too used to using his cuteness to get his way, and I was not about to fall into that trap, no matter how adorable he was.

"You have to really mean it," I replied. "I don't believe you right now."

"But you'll still give me a nice scratch behind the ears, right?" he asked sweetly.

"Actually, no, I don't think I feel like it anymore," I mused, placing him into the seat next to me.

"Wait," Happy started to plead. That was easy. This was often the case with people (or cats) who thought themselves to be master manipulators; one step out of the normal line of conversation and they were helpless.

"Hm?" I asked him.

"I promise I'll stop baiting Lucy," Happy replied, sincerely this time. "Can I have my scratch now?"

"Yes," I caved, and Happy happily jumped back into my lap.

We spent the rest of the train ride in a comfortable silence; Lucy read her book, Happy purred in my lap as I scratched him behind the ears, and Natsu hurled his guts out the window. The ride was over quickly though, and Happy had to drag Natsu out of the train car when we arrived at Rosa. I was surprised at how weak Natsu was. When he first got off the train, he could barely stand. However, after a few moments standing outside, he was immediately back to normal. I assumed it had something to do with his Dragon Slayer immune system.

"Okay!" he exclaimed as if he hadn't just been deathly ill. "Let's go fight some bandits!"

"Aye!" Happy agreed, and the two bravely marched off…in the wrong direction. After Lucy and I corrected our way-too-over-enthused teammates, we headed toward the village that put in the job request to get some more information.

When we arrived at the village, it was clearly in the heart of its election season. Campaign posters were hung up all over the place, yet strangely…

"Are all of these posters for the same candidate?" Lucy asked me as we walked towards the mayor's office.

"It looks like it," I replied as we walked past Pietro Vecchio's face for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Who cares?" Natsu rolled his eyes. "One guy is better at advertising than the other guy. We came here to fight bandits, so that's what we're gonna do."

I knew that that was what we were asked to do, but I couldn't help but feel like there could be more to the story.

"Thank goodness you came!" Mayor del Panzo said after we greeted him. "These bandits have been hounding our town for months!"

"Not a problem, sir!" Lucy replied professionally. "Do you have any information about these bandits that could help us?"

"Only a little," the mayor said shamefully. "They call themselves the Black Wolves, and they live up in those mountains there. Their leader apparently possesses some sort of transformation magic, but the rest of them don't have magic at all."

"Good to know," Natsu said. "All right team, let's go into those mountains and…"

"Hang on," I cut him off. "Do you happen to know why these bandits are attacking your town, Mayor del Panzo?"

"Aw c'mon, Nat, why do we need to know that?" Natsu quietly groaned.

"Shut up," Lucy muttered back. "This is a good idea. If we have a motive, we can use it against them."

"Well, it all started around last fall," the mayor explained. "But nothing was going on back then that would motivate bandits to attack us. Typically, we don't get any criminals at all. We're a rural middle-class town; not too rich, not too poor. Right now, we're in the thick of election season; if this problem had started more recently, I would think that something fishy was afoot. However, speaking frankly, I am surprised that it took a guild so long to take this job. I put in the request five months ago as soon as the attacks started, and so far, you're the only guild who's responded in that whole period."

"Good to know," I replied. "Thank you."

"Not a problem, miss. I do hope you and your friends are able to catch those bandits."

"We'll do our best!" Lucy smiled as we left the mayor's office.

"Hey guys," I muttered to them, "I want to stay in town and check some things out. What he said about this job taking a few months to get taken is a bit odd to me. Why don't you two go take care of the bandits while I scout around?"

"Sure thing," Lucy agreed. "Come on, Natsu, let's go fight some bandits!"

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Natsu asked.

"I'm going to poke around some places and ask a few questions."

"Okay," Natsu replied. "We'll be back soon!"

"Try not to destroy too much!" I called after them, but they were already gone.

"Okay," I muttered to myself after my friends had left, "time to go to the printer's office and see what's up with the one-sided advertising."

As I walked to the town printers, I took a look at the campaign posters that had been scattered all over buildings and the side of the road again. As I thought, none of them were for del Panzo, the current mayor; all of them were for the guy who must have been his opponent: Pietro Vecchio.

It was a small town, so I quickly arrived at the printer's office.

"Hello?" I asked as I opened the door to find about thirty people working on making posters. From what I could see, they were all posters for Vecchio's campaign.

"How-how may we help you?" one of the younger printers asked, staring fearfully at my holstered pistols. Normally, I would have done this kind of work in my civvies to make myself look less intimidating, but this day wasn't turning out to be normal.

"May I speak to the man in charge?" I asked politely, but firmly.

"He's on his lunch break," a beefier printer called out to me. "You can't just…" I subtly gestured to my pistols.

"Okay, okay!" he exclaimed, backing into his printing station with a soft thud. "I'll go get him!" He quickly ran off.

"All right," I made sure to project my voice so that all the printers could hear me, "I'm going to ask you all a few questions."

I never planned to pull out a weapon on these people. Over the years, I had learned that intimidation and psychological warfare were more likely to get you truthful answers than torture or a physical threat. When someone is being tortured, they will say whatever they need to in order to stop being tortured, even if it isn't true.

"First question," I started, "when do you all start your election campaigns?"

"Well," one of the printers responded, "we usually start our primaries in the fall."

"Interesting," I said, raising my eyebrow, "May I ask why there are only posters for one candidate flying around town? Del Panzo seems underrepresented."

"Well…uh, well…" This question sent the printers into stunned silence, which somewhat surprised me; normally, as Natsu said, one candidate would simply end up paying more for advertising than the other one, and my hunch would have been for naught.

"Our…" the younger printer from before started. I looked at him earnestly, silently encouraging him to continue. He cracked. "Our boss told us to ignore del Panzo's requests for posters, and only work on Vecchio's posters. But…I never understood why. Del Panzo has been a great mayor this past term! Our economy is thriving…"

"Shut up, Rubio!" one of the female printers called from her workstation. "If our boss found out that you supported del Panzo…"

"Sorry, Maria," the boy frowned. He looked like he was about to cry. "I'm so sorry," he muttered to me, his head bowed, tears flowing down his face. "That girl is my sister. She supports del Panzo too but…if our boss found out about our views, we'd be fired. And we need these jobs! Our mom is too sick to work, and our dad runs a fruit stand that doesn't make a regular income. If we don't keep these jobs, our family…"

"This is disgusting," I growled as the workers hung their heads in shame, "but you can't fire a boss, can you?"

"Can you tell me when you printed that job request?" I asked gently. "I might be able to help solve your problems with your boss if you can tell me that much."

"We…we were told to hold off from printing it until the election was over, but we resisted because we were sick of these robbers invading our town," Rubio said. "Now, Vecchio's angry, and who knows what…"

"Thank you," I said quietly. "You've been incredibly courageous today. Now…"

"Miss!" the burly printer shouted, a lanky, sleazy-looking man following him. "You wanted to see the boss, right?"

"That I did," I replied coolly, "but I have most of the intelligence I need now. I only need to ask him a few questions."

"What do you mean, Miss?" the boss asked me.

"Well," I replied, "with the intelligence I have now, I could get you arrested for obstruction of justice. You concealed the fact that the bandits were attacking your town for months by not printing and releasing that job, am I correct?"

The boss was starting to sweat. He was trying to conceal his fear, but I had done some interrogations before. I knew he just needed a gentle nudge or two before he cracked completely.

"Whatever your reasons may have been," I commented, "I hope they were worth putting innocent civilians in danger."

The boss started to hang his head.

"Oh, don't be acting all ashamed now," I pressed lightly. Just one more crack, and he was done. "I'm sure that if Vecchio were in charge, this problem would have been resolved months ago."

His face turned purple, and he lunged at me. I was expecting this to a degree, though; once a victim is afraid of being discovered, there are one of two reactions that they normally take. One is extreme sorrow. They'll burst into tears in the interrogation chair, and they usually submit to arrest easily. They also tend to get out of jail faster. The other reaction is extreme rage. These people tend not to want to admit to themselves that they're finished, so they try to take out their guilt on others. Luckily, even though they try to evade arrest, their emotions make them clumsier, and cloud their judgment.

Defending myself against the lanky, rage-fueled newspaper boss was easy. One well-placed knee to the stomach, and he was on the floor.

"All right," I asked the newspaper staff, "where's Vecchio?"

"His place is right up the road," Rubio smiled. "It's the giant mansion just outside of town."

"Thanks," I gave Rubio a wry smile before I left the print shop.

"Good luck!" he called after me.

I had a feeling I would need more than luck when I saw the avalanche that had just started raining boulders down the mountain closest to the town.

"Damn it, Natsu," I grumbled. I didn't even know why I bothered to try and tell him not to destroy anything. Having worked in the records department until Gran Doma deemed me old enough to go into the field, I had seen, and been forced to record, countless examples of his destructive behavior over the years. It would be pointless to start yelling now.

As I ran towards Vecchio's house, I heard Natsu on the mountaintop screaming, "COME BACK HERE, YOU FREAKING LIZARD!" I was amazed, but somehow unsurprised, that his voice could carry that far. More boulders promptly started to rain down towards the village. I saw a bull come from out of nowhere and start to cleave the boulders in half before they could get very far.

The bull must be Lucy's, I thought. Good thinking on her part.

When I got to Vecchio's house, there wasn't much that I actually needed to do. One of the stray boulders had crashed into his mansion, and he was lying face-first on his bedroom floor. Frankly, I almost wanted to leave him there. He deserved it for endangering his village for political gain. However, I still found some rope in one of his supply closets, and tied him up before he could regain consciousness.

I returned to the printing place with another length of rope, and used it to tie up the head of the newspaper, who was just starting to come around. Rubio ran to the sheriff's office, and within minutes, both men were arrested for obstruction of justice and rigging a political election. I reckoned that with a good enough lawyer, someone might be able to prosecute them for minor domestic terrorism.

"We did it!" I heard Natsu call out as he and Lucy walked back down the mountain, a bandit slung over Natsu's shoulders. He had a nasty looking lump on his forehead. Lucy looked considerably more tired than Natsu. "We beat the bandits."

"Good to hear," I replied, "and I just got the guys behind the bandits."

"Also good news," Lucy smiled.

"Who's this guy?" I asked, gesturing to Natsu's captive.

"The lead bandit," Lucy replied. "He was a shapeshifter, and, like the mayor said, he was the only mage in the group. What happened on your end?"

I quickly filled them in.

"Man, why did you have to go and do all of that on your own?" Natsu asked, unceremoniously dropping the bandit on the floor. "We would've helped you out after we beat the bad guys on the mountain."

"It was better that it worked out this way," I replied. "You guys did the job you were asked to do, and I did the job beneath the surface."

"Fair enough," Lucy replied, "but seriously, Nat, next time, you should come with us. We need to see how well we work as a team, and that includes you."

"It does?" I asked.

"Of course it does!" Natsu grinned. "It'd be great to have a sleazy person…OW!" he cried out as Lucy punched him in the arm.

"I'm sure he meant to say 'stealthy,'" she smiled at me.

"I'm sure he did," I agreed.

"Thank you all so much for helping Rosa!" Mayor del Panzo called out as he walked towards us. "We are very grateful for your services."

I wasn't used to being thanked for my work; I was used to disappearing. However, being noticed and appreciated for my efforts felt…nice. Better than nice, actually. I was finally being recognized for my efforts.

"Not a problem, sir," I replied.

"However," the mayor frowned and turned towards his town, "I will not be paying you."

"We're…not getting a reward?" Lucy asked, crestfallen.

"Unfortunately," the mayor frowned, "I have to use the money that I was going to pay you to cover the cost of repairing the five municipalities that were destroyed by a sudden avalanche. I do hope it was one of the robbers that caused it. Otherwise, I might have to report you lot to the Magic Council."

"It was!" Natsu called out, dragging Lucy and I out by our wrists as he ran towards the train station, Happy hot on his heels. "Bye!"

I could have sworn I saw the mayor smile softly as he watched us make our less-than-graceful exit, and I knew we wouldn't be getting in any trouble with my former employers at all. I also had a good feeling that he would be getting re-elected.

"Feels good to be going home, doesn't it?" Happy asked as the return train to Magnolia pulled out of the station.

"Speak for yourself," Natsu gagged. Thankfully, Happy and I had just positioned him so that he could chuck up whatever he needed to on the train tracks, and not on us.

"Yeah," Lucy agreed somberly. "Another unpaid job is in the books."

"No worries," I reassured her. "We'll get paid next time." Wait, since when did I start considering myself a part of this team?

"You're staying with us?" Lucy asked excitedly.

"I think so," I replied with a smile.

"That'shghreat," Natsu slurred, "butgh firstack, canweHURK pleasegetoffthistrain?"

"Not until we get home!" Lucy scolded, and I just had to smile at their antics. For once, I felt like I belonged somewhere.


	7. Chapter 7: Old Friends, Old Foes

**Special thanks to Derekjay2000 for their OCs, who will be making an appearance in this chapter (kind of)! Thank you all so much for the reviews, faves, and follows. I appreciate all of it, especially the feedback! As usual, if you'd like to send in an OC, link in profile! Enjoy the chapter, and the last few days of your summers!**

 **Episode used for reference: "Natsu vs Erza," English Dub.**

 **~Raven**

Chapter 6: Old Friends, Old Foes

I spent more time than I was expecting to with the Fairy Tail guild. My logical side was telling me to put some distance between myself and the guild, but my heart was telling me to stay, and stay I did. I got closer to Lucy; the two of us had an unspoken agreement that I would be living with her until further notice, and another unspoken agreement to protect each other from creeps whenever possible. I also got to know Natsu and Happy a lot better, and got to meet and befriend many other members of the guild, including Levy and Cana. I still hadn't met Erza Scarlet yet, but I was eagerly awaiting the time when I would get to. I'd heard that she was a powerful mage, and according to Lucy and Natsu, she was also a loyal ally and friend. I'd heard stories about Mirajane's power as well, but from what I could see, she had chosen to work as a waitress instead of fight. I understood why she chose to do so, but I was slightly disappointed. We needed more strong lady wizards out there representing!

However, I still hadn't told the guild what kind of magic I could do yet. I was worried they might get creeped out. Whenever Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and I were on missions, I let them believe that I was a Holder Mage, and that my suit was my only real source of magic power. This was the first time I had ever felt guilt about lying, even if only partly, to anybody, but I figured that it was in my best interest to do so.

Fighting without my invisibility was an experience in itself. Thankfully, Lucy demanded that we do simple jobs in an effort to tame Natsu's wrath and earn enough money to pay our rent, so all I had done with Fairy Tail so far was beat up a couple of gangs of bandits. In a way, I thought it was a good thing that I'd restrained myself from using my magic; I could test my skills more honestly if I didn't have the ability to slip into a hidden dimension. And honestly, I was proud of myself. I could take out about as many thugs as Lucy, but neither of us could match Natsu.

The fire wizard was a true menace in every sense of the word whenever he fought. I vowed to never be on the wrong end of his magic; even if I turned invisible, I thought that his dragon's nose might have been able to sniff me out. I had quickly learned about Natsu's sensitive nostrils when he gagged before we got on a train one time. It turned out that a man on the other side of the platform had decided to eat a sardine sandwich while he waited for his train to arrive. Lucy, Happy, and myself were completely unaffected, but Natsu wasn't happy, especially since our train was due to arrive before his. Needless to say, that train ride was…eventful.

However, nothing that had happened to me thus far was as eventful as what occurred that one fateful morning.

It was a relatively normal, quiet morning at first; Lucy was writing at her desk, and I was lounging on the sofa, scrolling through my datapad. Even though I was technically on leave from Magic Council work, I still had to finish up some jobs that I'd started before I left. There was also this new magic potions job that Galdur wanted my help to finish, though why he felt he needed it, I didn't know. Galdur was a powerful wizard in the Custody Enforcement unit; his squad could tackle a sleazy potions dealer in one fell sting operation. However, he probably wanted to weasel as much information as he could out of the guy before he went in for the kill, hence why he wanted me to help his team out.

Why was I scrolling through a confidential datapad in front of Lucy, you may ask? Well, she thought it was made for playing games, and whatnot, so she never paid it any mind. Even though she is incredibly smart, Lucy is one of the most blindly trusting people I have ever met, and if I'm being honest, sometimes I'm thankful for that.

Suddenly, I felt the air shift behind me. Someone was coming in. I immediately leaped off of the sofa, moved toward where I thought the intruder was moving, and raised my fist to find…Gray, in what I was beginning to suspect was his favorite orange armchair, in his boxers.

"Man, saving the world is cool and all but sometimes it's nice to just take a break…" Lucy started, and then turned around to find me about to punch Gray.

"INTRUDER ALERT!" she screamed as her rage started to erupt once again. "NAT, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? JUST PUNCH HIM ALREADY! ALSO, WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES GRAY?!"

The only reason I hadn't punched Gray was because I recognized him as a friend, but I was beginning to realize that Fairy Tail members never held back on violence when it came to their friends. However, I never wanted to walk down that route. Speaking of clothes, I then realized that I was five feet away from Gray, and only wearing a light camisole and pajama shorts.

"Calm down, already, guys!" Gray started to panic. I put my fists down, and crept towards the sofa. "I was naked when I got here," he said, as if that would somehow make everything better.

"That…doesn't really help," I replied, switching off my datapad.

"Get out," Lucy deadpanned, pointing to the door.

"So, you guys forgot about today huh? Well, really, only Lucy forgot. Nat wasn't here for this."

"What?" I asked.

"Well, to sum it all up, Natsu challenged Erza to a fight at the train station before our last mission as a group," Gray started. "They've had fights in the past, and Erza's always kicked his butt, but the rematch is today. I figured Lucy would forget, so I came by to remind her. If you want to come, Nat, that's cool too."

"I have nothing better to do," I replied, making a mental note to never, ever read my datapad anyplace except my room again. It seemed like Lucy's friends could break in anytime. "But Lucy, if you're ready to go, I'll just meet you at the guild. There's some quick stuff I need to take care of here."

"Sure thing!" Lucy said. "Just be safe when you're walking to the guild!"

"Of course!" I called back as she and Gray headed for the guild hall.

As soon as the two of them left, I went to work on my datapad again. Time to see what Galdur needed me for.

I stared back at a job title that read: OPERATION: FTR ERA

Turned out the "potion seller" gig was totally false; Galdur must have lied to Sylph about why exactly he needed me again. Honestly, I couldn't blame him. That familiar was a giant gossip, and this job clearly was a need-to-know operation.

FTR was part of a slang that Galdur and I created, and used sometimes on missions, so I must have been the only recipient of this message. This particular term stood for "Find the Rat," and ERA was obviously exactly what it looked like.

The description of the job read more like a note than anything:

 _Hey Natalie!_

 _Hope your gap year has been going well. I hear you're touring around Fiore looking for a guild to call home for a while. However, I'm going to need you to put that aside for a minute, because something urgent has come up, and I need your help._

 _At the end of my last operation, I heard the perps saying something disturbing about how "[their] informant in the Magic Council had given [them] shitty intelligence." They could have just been saying that to throw us off, but I've had a feeling that there's been a traitor in the Magic Council for a while now. Would you mind doing some light recon for me the next time you return to ERA? I know you're the woman for the job when it comes to things like this, and you do owe me a favor. If you could get this recon done in the next two weeks, I would be very grateful._

 _I understand that Sylph still doesn't like you. I do hope you never take that personally, but I've never understood why she hates you so much. Maybe you can explain it to me when we get lunch sometime. I'd love to hear about how your gap year is going._

 _-Galdur_

 _P.S. I went home for the weekend. Ritari and Fadir send their best, and are keeping you in their prayers._

So Galdur thought that there might be a traitor in the Magic Council. Interesting, I thought as I slipped on some day clothes. After I pulled on a pair of dark skinny jeans, I slipped a small knife on my right side. I could feel the flat of the cold steel blade against my skin, but I knew the jeans would be tight enough to hold the knife in place; I had done this before. After slipping on a black tank top and my usual combat boots, I was ready to head to the Fairy Tail guild.

I had arrived a minute too late. As soon as I saw what was happening outside the guild hall, I began to panic.

Erza Scarlet, one of the strongest wizards in Fairy Tail, was being led away in magic-blocking handcuffs by Linda, the most bureaucratic frog I'd ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I'd never met Erza before, but I did want to know why the Magic Council had sent Linda out to Fairy Tail, especially to arrest someone who had been a reliable source of help to Fiore for many years.

"Hey Linda!" I called out as she passed by. She squelched to a stop. "What's going on?"

"Hello, Natalie," she replied primly. "I suppose you didn't hear my previous announcement to the rest of your guild."

Why was everyone, even the frog, assuming I was a member already?

"Erza Scarlet has been charged with eleven counts of property damage. Witnesses reported that the damages were caused by a heavily armored woman."

"Lots of female wizards wear armor these days," I retorted. I'd always hated Linda. She was a pain to work for in Records because once she made up her mind about something, she would never, ever change her opinion whether the facts of a situation changed or not. I could never say or do anything about it due to the fact that if I did, she would report it to Gran Doma, and who knew how he would react? Now that I was a free woman, however, I was going to stand up to her. Either that, or Natsu's fiery nature was starting to grow on me.

"Well, it was obviously her. Now, will you stop being so stubborn and let me do my job? This woman needs to be tried before the Magic Council for the havoc that she wreaked while she was on a job at Oshibana Station."

"Ah, so that's what this is," I replied. "Fairy Tail is just going to be a scapegoat because of whatever happened at Clover recently." Lucy had told me about the incident in her own words, but I'd also read about it in in a few of my favorite newspapers. That had to be what Linda was talking about

"They caused more damage than the job required," Linda declared primly, as if she knew exactly how much force was required to deal with a giant flute demon. That was it; I was done with this stupid frog. I knew that Fairy Tail had done more damage than they had to (typical), but they had also saved the Guild Masters in the process, which had to be more important than destroying buildings.

"Then allow me to speak for the guild in court in Erza's place," I replied. "They're good people, and they don't deserve to get slapped with the fines that I know you're eager to give them." Also, I added to myself, this would be an excellent opportunity to poke around the Fiore branch of ERA to see if there was any information I could find about a traitor in the Council for Galdur. If he was right, and his hunches usually were, Fiore could be in grave danger.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, but since you are still technically an employee, unfortunately," she frowned, "you may tag along and advocate for Miss Scarlet at her trial."

"You just want them to get fined because you know that if they do, you'll get a raise for making the arrest, you greedy frog," I grumbled.

"What was that?" she whirled around. She always had been hard of hearing.

"Absolutely nothing," I smiled in response, looking her straight in the eyes. "I was just awed by your love of your job for a moment there."

She smiled smugly, and we headed towards the carriage that would take us to the Fiore branch of the Magic Council.

"Thank you," Erza muttered as we walked. "You didn't have to volunteer to speak for me."

"Not a problem," I whispered back, "Any friend of Natsu and Lucy's can't be a bad person."

"You know them?" Erza asked.

"Yeah, I've gone on a few unofficial jobs with them," I replied. "I'm not a member of Fairy Tail yet, so I can't get paid, but I have been learning a bit about the guild."

"And are you going to stay?" Erza asked as we climbed into the carriage. "You seem like a strong wizard."

If she knew how weak my magic was, she would have rethought that statement. Mostly, I relied on my non-magical skills to fight.

"I think so," I replied honestly as the wheels started to roll. "But…"

"You're indecisive," she interrupted.

"Hey…" I was a bit upset that she'd interrupted.

"It's okay," she replied. "I can see it plainly on your face."

And I always thought that I was difficult to read. Apparently, that had changed; either that, or Erza was very perceptive, which wouldn't have surprised me.

"There are quite a few times when people are unsure about a big decision like joining a guild. It's natural for your more logical side to take over in these circumstances; you want to find the best fit for yourself. However, if your heart is telling you to stay here, and you feel at home with us, then you should join the guild for good. We're always happy to add another member to our family."

"But the guild is full of perverts, and Natsu and Gray almost kill each other every day and…"

"They do?" She glared at me sternly from across the carriage, and it occurred to me that she would make an excellent interrogator. It also occurred to me that I had said something which I shouldn't have. "They always tell me that they've moved past that stage in their relationship."

"So they've been doing this since forever?" I asked.

"Ever since they were children," she confirmed. "I was always the one tasked with breaking them up."

"I imagine that would be a difficult task," I commented.

"Oh, it wasn't that hard," she sighed almost nostalgically as she remembered, "though I'm very glad that they seem to be getting along now. Whenever I see them, I feel as if I've helped construct a friendship. However…" her eyes narrowed, "if they've been lying to me about how much their relationship has improved, I will ensure that they will never be able to do so again."

I decided then and there to never, ever get on Erza Scarlet's bad side. Even Linda had gone pale at Erza's comment, and usually, for better or worse, she was able to handle the most difficult situations with the same neutral expression.

"I'm sure that their relationship had to have improved somewhat after your last mission with them," I replied with a smile, trying to diffuse her rage.

"You're right," she replied thoughtfully, "they did work well together. Maybe things are looking up after all."

"With some people, it just takes time," I replied sympathetically, hoping that that comment would end the discussion. Erza nodded agreeably, so I assumed that she was ready to move to a different topic. I knew that I was.

"So," Erza started curiously, "what kind of magic do you use, Natalie? If you're working with Lucy and Natsu, I'd wager that it must be something incredibly powerful."

"Well…" I replied, unsure of how exactly I was going to talk my way out of this one. Normally, I would have told her what I'd let Natsu and Lucy believe, but Erza seemed like she was much smarter than they were. If she found out I'd lied to her, well, my future wouldn't look very good.

"Natalie is a Hidden mage," Linda helpfully replied from in front of us while I was still thinking about what to say. "That type of magic is very useful for spying."

My face started to go pale again, almost as soon as it had regained its color from before.

"You look panicked," Linda said bluntly as she turned around to face me. "It's almost like you didn't even tell anyone about your old job."

No, no, no, no, no. Linda must have really been trying to ruin my life this time. Either that, or she didn't know that you don't just tell random people that you might have been a spy for the most powerful form of magical government that exists! I wanted to punch her in her wide green face. She'd backed me into a corner that I couldn't get out of, and she knew it.

"I…haven't told anyone at the guild about my magic yet," I confessed, veering the conversation off course.

"Why not?" Erza asked incredulously. "That type of magic sounds incredibly useful."

"Who wants to be friends with somebody who can turn invisible at will?" I asked sadly, finally sharing the truth with someone. "No one."

Erza just gave me a brave smile. "If you really thought that the guild would judge you for using a certain type of magic, then you have the wrong idea about Fairy Tail. Trust me, when we get back to the guild, just tell them the truth. They won't mind at all; in fact, many of them would most likely appreciate the change of pace. We need some more intelligence-oriented members."

"Thanks," I mumbled, staring at the floor. I knew it was stupid to be self-conscious about my own magic, but I always felt that I could never be too careful. After all, I knew what it felt like to be called a freak by a large group of people from my childhood in Amartha. I didn't need that to happen again.

"We've arrived," Linda stated in her standard monotone. As we climbed out of the carriage, I looked up to see the giant dome that marked the Fiore branch of the Magic Council. Keeping Galdur's comments in mind, I knew that if he needed intel on a traitor in the Magic Council, then this would be a good place to start searching for it. Now, I needed a strategy to slip away from Erza and Linda, if only for a few minutes.

On the elevator ride up, I started squirming slightly, as if I needed to use the bathroom immediately.

"Are you nervous about facing your old bosses, Natalie?" Linda asked smugly. "I would be too if I was on the wrong side of the stand."

"I'm not nervous," I replied honestly, "I just have to use the restroom as soon as we get out of this elevator. It's urgent."

"Oldest trick in the book to hide nerves," Linda frowned.

"Well, Linda, I don't know how you'd know what my body feels it needs to do better than I would," I commented, "so if you'd just let me quickly use the restroom, I'd be very grateful."

"Fine," Linda rolled her eyes. Erza seemed unfazed by the whole mess. "Come along, Erza Scarlet. The trial room is this way. Natalie, I'm sure you know where the restrooms are."

I sure did. At first, all three of us headed in the same direction. A few feet down the hallway, I made the right turn that led straight to the women's room. As soon as Erza and Linda walked a few feet forward, I pounded my right fist into my left palm and turned invisible.

You know, I thought to myself as I stared the women's bathroom door in the face, bathroom before recon is always a good idea anyhow.

As soon as I got out of the women's room, I headed straight for the Magic Council's Fiore offices to see what I could dig up, and the first one on the left when I arrived was Siegrain's. His office's door was locked, but a couple of tricks with my tiny knife later, that wasn't an issue. I turned the knob and stepped into the office of one of the Magic Council's strongest members.

It was cleaner than I had expected for an early 20-something man; some men that I had had dealings with in the past hadn't even learned to clean up their rooms by forty, so I was surprised to see a room so clean that the white marble floors gleamed. Then again, there was a cleaning crew that came in every day at 3:00 on the dot, so I decided that they were the ones who deserved the credit for that. I quickly closed the door behind me, and perused the place in his office that would most likely give me information on any secret dealings he may have had going on: his desk.

Once again, there were a couple of drawers that he'd locked. Once again, I pried them open with my knife. I leafed through the documents in the first drawer, which looked to me like bureaucratic work from the Magic Council. I didn't read those documents thoroughly. It was clear that they were legit, and I didn't want to pry into that jargon unless I absolutely had to. Also, I was on a time crunch. Erza's trial would be starting precisely on the hour at 3:00, in about thirty minutes, and I had to move quickly in case the cleaning crew decided to come in early.

I leafed through the second drawer after replacing all of the items back into the first one. The first document I found was more bureaucratic jargon. The second one, however, clearly wasn't. It was written in some sort of secret code, but it appeared to have been written on Magic Council-issued paper; I noticed the official stamp at the bottom of the page. The third through tenth sheets in the stack were coded as well.

Normally, I would have taken photos on my datapad, and put the paper away as if nothing was amiss. However, I hadn't expected to be doing recon immediately after receiving the request from Galdur, so my datapad was back in my room in Lucy's house. At first, I thought that I would need to steal the documents. However, I then noticed the standard-issue copier that all high-level Magic Council employees with their own offices were given. Using the copier itself would have made too much noise, but it would still be useful to me. I quickly grabbed nine sheets of paper from the copier and a pen from his desk, and copied as if my life depended on it.

After re-locking the drawer, and gathering the intel I needed, I moved on to the third drawer. I looked at the clock. Fifteen minutes to Erza's trial. This would be the last drawer I would be able to open up.

What I found inside rocked me to my core.

The red letter Z with a bloodshot eyeball in its center was an unmistakable symbol. My parents had denounced what it stood for countless times when I was growing up. I had only seen it twice in my life on newspaper covers if some dark cult that worshipped him had been arrested. This time, however, it was on the cover of a book, and I definitely couldn't copy the entire book's contents. I promptly swiped it from Siegrain's desk, and slipped it into my side; my jeans would hold it in place. Unfortunately, my tank top was too snug to hide a book in my side, so I tied my jacket around my waist like I did back when I was ten years old and prayed to the gods that no one would notice.

After re-locking the drawers, I slipped out of Siegrain's office, locking the door behind me. Erza's trial started in ten minutes.

As quickly as I dared run so as not to lose valuable intel, I raced through the hallways, and luckily managed to bump back into Erza and Linda as they were about to enter the trial room.

"I'm surprised you made it back in time," Linda frowned. For some reason, I noticed that she looked a little shaken. "We thought you weren't going to make it."

"The women's bathroom line was long," I lied, and the two winced sympathetically.

"They really need to start making more women's restrooms than men's in an establishment instead of assuming that women and men take the same amount of time in there," Erza commented.

"Thankfully, frogs have the option of doing their business elsewhere," Linda stated smugly. I couldn't believe her. Even in a conversation about the bathroom of all things, she had to prove her superiority. I guessed that this trait came about from people picking on her for being a frog in a job that was supposedly meant for humans. And boy, did I know a thing or two about what it felt like to be picked on, but what I faced probably didn't equate to some of the people who Linda had had to deal with in her life. For that reason, I felt sorry for her.

However, it was difficult to feel too sorry for a frog with a superiority complex. Linda marched us into the trial room. I kept my poker face on and my fingers crossed as Erza walked up to the stand and I stood beside her; Siegrain was definitely going to be in there, and if he realized that I'd broken into his office…

A gavel banged a few times, and I re-focused. My goal right now was to help defend Erza as best I could, and not get caught stealing. Linda, the one who had banged the gavel, announced: "This courtroom will now come to order!", and I looked at the faces of Gran Doma and the rest of the Magic Council for the first time since I had left. Unsurprisingly, Gran Doma sat above the other Council members. Also unsurprisingly, they were all projections. No thinking Council member would ever show up in person for a minor trial such as this, which gave me confidence that this was just a bureaucratic farce, as I had initially predicted. I sensed that Erza felt the same way that I did. She was standing her ground firmly, and I didn't notice any indicators of fear; even her magic power was completely stable.

Of course I know how to sense other people's magic power. Being a spy, honing your magical detection skills can mean the difference between a successful arrest or handcuffing a clone.

"Presenting the defendant, Erza Scarlet," Linda announced proudly. She wasn't proud of Erza; she was proud because she thought she was going to get paid. "and Natalie Brenner, who has volunteered to speak on Miss Scarlet's behalf."

I nodded to the Council politely.

"Please take the stand, Miss Scarlet," Linda requested. "Miss Brenner, you may stand next to the stand."

"Natalie," Gran Doma asked, "It's lovely to see you, but I must ask why you think this is sensible."

Linda looked as if payday had come early. She always did love it when I messed up.

"I'm doing this to help some of my new friends out," I replied as if there was no other reason I wanted to be here. "I've heard about what happened from Fairy Tail's perspective and I figured that it might help them if I came."

"I see," he nodded, probably guessing that there was more to this than met the eye. He could read me better than anyone. "Well then, I will allow this trial to continue."

I could've sworn Linda's hat drooped about an inch.

"Erza Scarlet, you stand before the Council to answer to charges stemming from the incident involving the dark guild Eisenwald," Gran Doma declared, and with that, the trial began.

"These charges include: extensive damage to Oshibana Station, the collapse of the Ryushika Gorge Railway Bridge, and the complete destruction of the Clover meeting hall. There are eleven property damage charges against you."

Erza winced slightly.

"According to eyewitness reports," Gran Doma continued, "the perpetrator is described as a heavily armored female wizard."

Just then, the courtroom door exploded. I turned around to find, surprisingly, Natsu, dressed in a terrible impression of Erza's armor, complete with an ill-fitting wig and for some reason, a green bird on his left arm.

"What is this?!" Gran Doma demanded.

"I'M THE CRAZY LADY IN ARMOR YOU OLD-TIMERS HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR!" he exclaimed, in his natural voice, breathing fire. Not much of a disguise. I didn't know whether to laugh or punch him in the face. Despite my general no-violence policy towards people who I considered friends, I felt like the latter might do more good in this case. However, I couldn't punch him just yet. I quickly scanned the floor and swept through my pockets to ensure that no copies of coded papers were floating around the courtroom thanks to Natsu's dynamic entrance. Thankfully, everyone was too busy staring at my new friend to notice my quick, quiet movements, and no papers had been lost.

"IF YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM WITH THE WAY ME AND MY GUILD DO THINGS, YOU CAN FIGHT ME!" he exclaimed, waving his arms and running around like a maniac. I had to laugh because not one Council member knew how to handle this situation, and Linda's face was totally priceless. Then I remembered that Natsu seriously must have thought that this would help Erza in court, and my laughter died down a bit.

"Natsu," I called out to him, "maybe next time you want to advocate for someone in court, you should just do what I did and volunteer to speak for them."

On second thought, in Natsu's case, that was the worst suggestion I could have made.

"But Nat, they're gonna find her guilty and put her in jail or something," he said, stopping his tirade. I snorted again at his ridiculous getup, and I could feel the rage seething off of Erza.

"Natsu," I explained, "this trial is pure bureaucracy. What would most likely have happened is that Erza would have been found guilty of damages, and I would've then tried to persuade the court not to charge Fairy Tail the damage fines that the towns requested. Now, however, not only will the guild likely be slapped with fines, but you'll also be charged for the explosion that YOU just caused here at ERA."

"Wait, what?" Natsu asked. Unsurprisingly, my explanation went completely over his head.

"Basically, Fairy Tail will likely be charged with a lot of money, but there's something I can do right now to keep the guild from going completely broke," I said, walking closer to him.

"Well then, do it!" Natsu exclaimed. "What are you waiting for?" Good. He suspected nothing yet.

"Just give me one second," I said, taking one last step forward.

"Wait…" Natsu started as he started to realize where this might be going, "Nat…"

Before Natsu could prepare any sort of defense, I kneed him in the place where I knew that men felt the most pain. As soon as he doubled over, I delivered a strong right hook to his face, which made him fall backwards. Once his body hit the ground, I turned back to face the Magic Council, re-adjusting my jacket slightly in case someone might have caught a glimpse of the book in the commotion.

"Pardon the interruption, Gran Doma," I replied, bowing my head respectfully. "May we resume the trial?"

My second father looked incredibly amused.

"Indeed we may," he said, and the rest of the Council looked aghast.

"But sir," Ultear tried to protest, "should we not scan the perimeter to see if anyone else from Fairy Tail intends to interrupt these proceedings?"

"If anyone else was here, I would have sensed them," he confirmed. "We may resume this trial as if Mr. Dragneel had never interrupted these proceedings."

Ultear looked like she'd bitten into a sour plum by accident, but she grudgingly nodded her assent.

"How do you plead, Miss Scarlet?" Gran Doma asked.

"Your Honor," Erza replied, "I understand that Fairy Tail caused plenty of destruction. However, the flute contained a demon from the Book of Zeref. Whatever destruction we caused was necessary in order to subdue it."

"So, do you plead guilty?" Gran Doma continued. There was a long pause.

"Yes, I suppose I must," Erza replied, and I could've sworn I felt my jaw hit the floor.

"Eleven counts of property damage would normally mean that you would be spending a week in jail, unless Fairy Tail can pay off a one million Joule charge for all of the damages caused, as well as a twenty six thousand Joule bail."

"Your Honor, with all due respect, Erza Scarlet and her guildmates didn't cause half as much damage as the demon from the Lullaby flute," I interjected. "According to countless eyewitness reports, the demon blasted off mountaintops, slaughtered dozens of Army soldiers, and was prepared to slaughter thousands of innocent people. You can read about these accounts in the local newspapers. Surely the dark guild Eisenwald, who released the demon in Clover, should be the ones paying for the havoc that they caused."

"Eisenwald has been disbanded," Ultear replied smoothly, "so we can't charge them."

"Yes, we can," I shot back. "We can't charge the guild as a whole, but we can charge each member individually. Now that they've been arrested on charges involving dark magic, we have the ability to investigate their bank accounts without needing to ask for consent, and charge each member an appropriate amount. We can also look at their banking history to see if there were any other suspicious transactions."

"We've already looked at their banking history, and there was one expense that I thought you might find interesting," Gran Doma mused. "The week before Morukozo Nakamuri was arrested, a man named Kageyama withdrew 500,000 Joules from his bank account in cash. When we investigated that transaction further, it appears that Nakamuri was the one who sold Kageyama that demon flute."

"So was Nakamuri arrested?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes, we managed to capture him in his bathrobe at his summer home. One of our spies provided us with an excellent intelligence report."

I tried to hide my embarrassment, but Erza noticed.

"So you used to work for the Magic Council, then," Erza frowned.

"I didn't tell you because I assumed it wouldn't go down well," I replied, still staring at the floor.

"Can we resume the trial?" Ultear growled. "I still say Fairy Tail cannot get off scot-free."

"And they won't," Gran Doma agreed. "Erza Scarlet and Natsu Dragneel will be spending the night in a Magic Council holding cell, and Fairy Tail will be charged for Natsu's destruction of the courtroom entrance."

I grimaced. This sounded like it might be a total loss.

"However," Gran Doma continued, "Eisenwald members will be charged with the damage fees, and all of them will have their day in court sooner or later. Financially, Fairy Tail will, for once in their lives, be off the hook..."

I inwardly cheered.

"…on one condition." Oh, no, here it came.

"Makarov needs to promise that whenever we send him paperwork, he will fill it out, whether or not he thinks he needs to. Do you know how many times I have asked for Fairy Tail's annual tax report, and discovered that it had miraculously been burned to a crisp?" he asked.

Erza seemed to shiver at some sort of memory.

"TEN!" Gran Doma answered. Every Magic Council employee tried not to groan. We could all tell when he was preparing to go on a rant, and this moment was not the right time for that.

"That is my final verdict," he said, reading the mood in the room and wrapping up the trial. Linda banged her gavel three times, which officially ended the process. Once again, I watched as Erza was placed in handcuffs, and Linda led her to her lodgings for the night: a Magic Council jail cell. I saw Rune Knights slapping some cuffs on Natsu, who was barely coming back into consciousness. He glared at me, but I kind of expected that. I was sure we could patch things up when Natsu returned to the guild the next day.

"Gran Doma," I called out as he was about to release his projection.

"Yes?" he asked as the other Council members' projections faded from view.

"Thank you for sparing Fairy Tail from the damage fees."

"I may not have if you hadn't convinced me to look elsewhere for compensation. However," he said, looking at me as if he was trying to read my mind, "I sense that advocating for your new friends wasn't the only reason that you came here today, Natalie."

"It wasn't." I relayed what Galdur had told me about his suspicions that there was a traitor in the Council's ranks.

"Truth be told," I finished, "I did want to help Fairy Tail, but mostly, I used this trial as an excuse to investigate."

"And what did you find?"

"There were coded documents in Siegrain's office. I copied them. There was also a book in one of his drawers with the symbol of Zeref on the cover."

"Let me guess: the book is tucked into your side, hidden by your jacket, which you have tied around your waist, and the documents are inside your front and back pockets. You wouldn't put them in your boots because your natural sweat and body heat might muddle the pen ink that you used to copy them down."

"That's correct," I sighed. "I couldn't do much else with what I had on hand. Was it that obvious?"

"Sometimes, I feel you forget who exactly taught you to think like a spy," he mused. "And the jacket around the waist was a little suspicious." He paused for a moment before continuing. "What you did was extremely reckless, even for you. Galdur did not come to me about any of these concerns, so you understand that I will be slightly upset with him for not going through the official channels."

"He did what he thought was right," I replied. "If this request went through normal channels, Siegrain would definitely have found it and been able to destroy it before it went anywhere. He might have also been able to oust Galdur from his job on some other technicality as well, depending on how endangered he felt."

"That is true. However, while the book's presence in Siegrain's desk is disturbing, we cannot jump to the conclusion that he is a traitor. I hereby legitimize this investigation so that we can figure out the truth as quickly as possible. Tell me what you find, and Natalie,"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Have you put any more thought into which guild you're going to join?" he smiled, like he had just told a very funny joke.

"Fairy Tail is in first place by a mile at the moment," I replied. "When Erza and Natsu return from their detention, I'll officially join the guild."

"Keep them out of as much trouble as you can then, for your sake and mine."

"I will!" I called back as his projection faded. I tore out of the Fiore branch of ERA without a care in the world, excited for what lay ahead.


End file.
